Racial Discrimination In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

The novel Of Mice and Men takes place around the early 1930s, in the midst of the Great Depression. Though factors like the people’s constant yearn for money hints the setting, the terrible segregation that takes place against minorities is the distinct element defining this time period. However, if the first two chapters were told in the twenty-first century, the notions of mental and racial discrimination would be altered dramatically.

To start off, Chapter 1 reveals the constant struggle that George faces while keeping Lennie on task and in making sure he does not constantly get in trouble. Due to his mental disabilities, Lennie, on the other hand, always waits for George’s instructions on what to do and has a habit of forgetting information easily. George, often filled with frustration and stress about Lennie, told him, “So you wasn’t gonna say a word. You was gonna leave your big flapper shut and leave me do the talkin’. Damn near lost us the job.” In today’s modern society, however,
This is demonstrated by Slim, an African American who works on the same ranch as George and Lennie. An old man describes that Slim, “Got a crooked back where a horse kicked him. The boss gives him hell when he’s mad.” This was confirmed on page 29, when George overheard the boss yell out, “Where the hell is that God damn nigger?” Indeed, the unbearable and irrational torment Slim faced every day was similar to the experiences of many other workers that worked on ranches back in the South. On the contrary, most, if not all, modern-day businesses and workforce have desegregation laws that condemns the practice of racial segregation. Moreover, civil rights legislation since the 1960s extend numerous rights to African Americans and other minority groups. The novel told in the modern-day, therefore, would have a slim chance of containing the abuse of power against skin