The book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck takes place along the Salinas River in California during the depression. In the book two men, George and Lennie, go from ranch to ranch to find work. Lennie is mentally retarded, and George looks after him. Lennie always gets himself into trouble, and ends up accidentally killing a woman because he was scared. George takes matters into his own hands and kills Lennie before the other men can punish him cruelly. This book has been banned because of profanity, the loose use of the word "nigger," and the treatment of the mentally retarded. It also has some violence. Although this book does have some bad parts, it is still a very good book and it should not be banned.
             The first reason people think the book should be banned is the overall respect of life the book does not seem to have. People are killed ruthlessly, or so some people think. This is not true! Lennie does kill a woman, but he had no intention of doing so. He simply was scared and didn't know what was happening. George then killed Lennie back, but only to keep the other men from cruelly punishing him. These were not ruthless killings.
             Another reason people feel the book should be banned is because they think the mentally retarded are made fun of. This is not what Steinbeck had intended. He was using them in a way that they really are. The mentally retarded are part of our society and should not be treated any differently than anyone else. Normal people are made fun of just as much, which is just that, making fun, not abusing them. The book just would not make sense if a smart man could kill someone and not understand that he did it.
             The third reason why people feel the book should be banned is the way minorities are treated. The word n*gger is used quite a bit, but this is the way it was during the time. Not everyone was treated equally so Steinbeck wrote a true description by this. He wasn't trying to be
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