"Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck is a novella full of characters that represented different aspects of the world during the trying times of the Great Depression(a microcosm). Many characters in the novel were prejudiced by others because of age,skin color,gender, or a handicap. The feelings of lonliness, alienation, powerlessness, and discrimination that the characters experience on a Californian ranch are a result of their heredity and environmental limitations (societal views and prejudices). Today, our society continues to struggle with the problems Steinbeck wrote of at least 60 years ago.
             The characters Candy, Curley's wife, Crooks, and Lennie all suffered from discrimination and alienation because of factors they cannot control. Candy is old and handicapped, Curley's wife is the only female on the ranch, Crooks is black, and Lennie is very large and has a mental disability. Unfortunately, the cruelty and discrimination those characters had to endure years ago still exists today for similar reasons. Although our society has worked hard to create a nation in which "all people are created equal," (examples: Women's Rights Movements, better care for the elderly and disabled, and equal opportunities for African Americans) discrimination still exists. As Curley's wife suffered from being a female in an all male world, many women today who are trying to get jobs face similar problems that Curley's wife did. Some believe that women in the work force that have the same job as a male counterpart may get paid less than the male. Also, our country has never had a female president, which shows how society's old-fashioned beliefs are still rooted in American society. Crooks suffered from alienation and was not allowed in the barn with the other ranch hands because he was black. Even though a lot of progress in our society has been made since the times of slavery and segregation, the prejudices that Crooks experienced because of his skin ...