Powerlessness and Discrimination in

A detailed Summary of Powerlessness and Discrimination in


"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


Powerlessness is another theme in Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men." A person can be intellectually, socially, or economically powerless. Lennie is socially powerless because he is large and powerful, but does not have the intellectual capacity to control his impulses. Crooks in the novella was socially powerlessness because of the color of his skin and was alienated from others because of it. George and Lennie's dream of a farm and land of their own was out of reach because they did not have the money to buy it (before Candy chipped in). Throughout the Great Depression are long gone, economic powerlessness still exists today. A great example of economic powerlessness today is the reactant Enron scandal. Many employees who had trusted their life savings retirement money in Enron lost everythi

Some common words found in the essay are:
African Americans, John Steinbeck, Crooks Lennie, Throughout Depression, Steinbeck's Mice, George Lennie's, Depression American, Rights Movements, curley's wife, Candy Curley's, America Powerlessness, american society, discrimination characters, economic powerlessness,

Approximate Word count = 533
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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