“This room was swept and fairly neat, for Crooks was a proud, aloof man. He kept his distance and demanded that other people keep theirs.”
As Crooks was discriminated, he was used to being far apart of the people, so he got used to being lonely and marginated. There is another good quote which Crooks said, showing the hopes of discriminated people in those times. He told George,
“You’ll be a swamper here till they take out of here in a box.”
This shows us that he expected to be working in the ranch till they die, a very pessimist way of thinking, which would probably be normal in the 1930s.
Candy is also a good example of a discriminated person of the 1930s. As he is old and disabled, he is treated like a useless person, which people ignore, practically not talking with him and isolating him. His opinions in the farm would not be listened to, as Curley’s wife said in the middle of a discussion between her and Crooks while Candy was trying to stop her saying that “if you was to do that, I’d tell,” and Curley’s wife answered:
“Tell an’ be damned. Nobody’d listen to you, an’ you know it. Nobody’d listen to you.”
Candy accepted this answer because he knew it was true, because, just because he is old, he is used to be discriminated.
Candy had a dog which is a symbol for him, because as the dog is old, useless and stinks, the people living in the bunk house wanted to kill it, and although Candy did not want, Carlson killed it. After the dog’s death, all the people in the bunk house were satisfied, and Candy was really sad, because, in a way the dog was his only friend in the ranch.
Women were so discriminated that Steinbeck to show this even does not put a name to Curley’s wife. He presents the women of those times as useless people, being marginated from work and discriminated.
Curley’s wife was his wife just because she wanted to go from home because she had problems with her mother. When she met Curley she thought that she would have less problems, so she marriaged Curley even though she says he does not like him. In the book we can see how she is always flirting with other men, which do not like her, because, although she is very pretty, they know she would get them into serious problems. We can see this when Whit said:
“She got the eye goin’ all the time in everybody. I don’t know what the hell she wants. Seems like she can’t keep away from guys.”
The ranchers do not like her attitude, because they suppose that sooner or later she was going to be involved in a big mess, as George said:
“They’s gonna be a bad mess about her. A ranch with a bunch of guys in it ain’t no place for a girl, specially like her.”
George was right, knowing that Lennie liked to touch nice things and the first time Lennie saw her, he got really fascinated and had “an admiringly smile on his face.” George immediately knew that they would have problems with her.
Steinbeck shows us that the “depression time” of America was a very bad time for native people. This is shown many times, because it can be seen that the thoughts of the people were practically always pessimist, never thinking in a positive way, and having impossible dreams.
Steinbeck also shows us the severe discrimination that black and old people were receiving in those times, which has been reduced until nowadays, where black and old people are normal people in our society.
“Of Mice and Men” is a very effective way of seeing how the times change, and of seeing how sad and lonely people could be years ago, and it makes you think about how lucky we are living in our society.