The Other And Othering Analysis

To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men: Differences Change the World Everyone in the world is different whether the difference is race, gender, or social class. Some people decide to celebrate these differences while others shun people whom they consider to be slightly different from what society considers to be “normal.” The article “The Other and Othering” by Sara Engelund states that people who are Othered usually feel that, “Differences between societies are emphasized while similarities are hidden” (Engelund). Dominance, along with misuse of this causes the unequal treatment of the Other (Engelund). In the novels To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men many of the characters are othered because of race or physical disabilities. Specifically,
When Crooks is talking to Lennie about going out Crooks states, “They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black” (Steinbeck 68). Crooks is being treated poorly and unfairly just because of his race which reveals his role as a literary other. In addition, the author uses the literary device of the other to emphasize the characters and to develop the motif of dreams. Crooks dreams about being treated like a normal human being For instance, Crooks is talking to Curley’s wife when she says, “Well, you keep your place then, nigger” (Steinbeck 81). Through dialect like the word nigger, the reader can detect the discrimination between white and black characters. Crooks is treated unfavorably because of his race and he does not feel that this is fair. The behavior of the character in relation to Crooks’s race reveals that Crooks is Othered just because of the color of his
Both individually and collectively, these novels have the motif of walking in other people’s shoes or seeing things from other people’s perspective. By using the literary device of othering, the author forces the reader to look at things from the other character’s perspective. Each character is outcasted, not by his or her choices, but by the color their skin. This proves that both of these characters are being Othered. Calpurnia was judged by her choices to learn to read or write only because the color of her skin. Crooks was also judged by the people he chose to talk only because of his race. The characters in these pieces were Othered just because the pigment of their skin was the slightest bit different. None of the overpowering people cared about the choices that were made that could affect their lives. All they cared about was the color of their