Lennie is seen as a victim in many ways, the main one being his learning disability. This means that he is incapable of surviving on his own as he would not be able to look after himself. George says to Lennie: “Jesus Christ, you’d be shot for a coyote if you was on your own.” He is lucky to have George because without him he would not function. When he is with George he does whatever George asks him to do. At these times he showing how vulnerable he is as some of the tasks he performs would not be carried out by a person of sound mental functioning. George used to play jokes on him ‘cause he is too dumb to take care of ‘imself’. Having a learning disability made it easy for George to trick him into performing things that are demeaning. Lennie is a victim of bullying because he lacks the necessary mental ability to understand what is going on. If Lennie was the same as George then he might have been the bully due to his size and strength.
When George was around Lennie he felt that he had power although he had responsibility as well. John Steinbeck gives all of his characters a taste of power which is eventually taken away from them. George made a conscious decision to not abuse his power over Lennie, especially since the incident which almost caused Lennie to drown. George told Lennie to jump into a river and knowing how loyal Lennie is, he jumped in, even though he couldn’t swim. This made George look like a hero to Lennie because he ‘rescued’ him by pulling him out. George loses this power when he kills Lennie. Lennie has his taste of power on different occasions, one being when he grabs Curley’s fist and squeezes it until his hand broke. Lennie was in control of Curley and was capable of overpowering people due to his size and strength. Crooks said about George ‘S’pose he took a powder and just ain’t coming back’. ‘What‘ll you do then?’ Lennie did not like this and moved towards Crooks in a threatening manner.
Lennie is a victim of his personal limitations; he is unable to think for himself and simply does whatever George tells him to do. People would automatically assume that he is useless due to his learning difficulties; however, his size proves that he is indeed useful at physical tasks that require strength such as bucking barley. In those times Lennie would have been dismissed as a liability as it was the ‘survival of the fittest’.
Candy is an old man. He is seen as useless because not only due to his age but due to the fact that he possessed only one hand. He is made a victim of his physical disability as he states that he knows for sure that he will be fired from his job soon. He says that ‘They’ll can me purty soon’. As a victim of his physical disability he looks for sympathy from the people around him. He says ‘When they can me here I wish somebody would shoot me’. He said this after his dog was killed as he had outlived his usefulness. He feels that the time is coming when he will also have outlived his usefulness so he would like to be dealt with the same way as his dog. Although he did not want the dog killed he allowed himself to be pressurised by others into doing it for him, by this he is seen as a victim of bullying. He was pressurised by the continuing requests from other people to have it put down as they complained that it smelt and was useless.
Candy is also a victim of his personal limitations. Having only one hand allows him to do only a certain amount of work, which can be seen as unacceptable for the pay he receives. This makes the possibility of him being fired greater, because it would be easy for the boss to find new workers who would do a lot more than Candy and for less pay. Candy is lucky because he has over $250 saved. Candy can also be seen as a victim of loss because he lost his dog, who was a close companion ever since he was a pup. It is not easy to have someone or something that you have lived with for years just taken away from you in a short amount of time. The only reason he lost his dog was because of everyone around him, who did not feel the same way that Candy did towards it. Everyone else wanted it dead. Having his dog dead made Candy a victim of isolation and loneliness. He is on his own now, only because he was forced to give up his pet.
Candy will suffer severely as he faces a bleak future “on the county” – a meagre system of state welfare. This system guarantees the victim to end up in poverty, automatically losing his or her dignity. Once trapped within this system it is extremely difficult to break away as it saps a persons’ mental and physical strength.
Curley was a bully. Ironically he was a victim of his own bullying because he tried bullying Lennie, which proved to be a big mistake. After punching Lennie several times George told Lennie to ‘Get ‘im’. Lennie responded by grabbing Curley’s fist and squeezing it until he was told several times by George to stop. For his bullying Curley got a taste of his own medicine, a broken hand. Curley used his hand to punch and to boast about his sexual prowess with his wife: both feeble attempts at overcoming his sense of inferiority. It is deliberately ironic that his hand was broken. It was almost a reflection of his inadequacy. Curley, not being able to fulfil his dream of becoming a professional boxer, was a victim of thwarted ambition.
Curley’s wife is a victim of circumstances; she is in an unhappy marriage. Even though she has been married for only two weeks, she is already unhappy being with Curley. Curley keeps her like a caged animal because he does not allow her talk to anyone besides himself. She is being made a victim of deprivation in that she is not allowed to mix with others and develop the normal social skills associated with growing up. She did not know what Curley was like because she married him to spite her mother. She also claimed that she was a victim of deception, as she reckoned that her mother took all of her letters because she never received a letter she was expecting from an agent in Hollywood. Curley’s wife is a victim of Curley’s own promiscuity. Curley regularly visits brothels, so it can affect his wife as he is at risk of catching a sexually transmitted disease, which his wife can easily catch. For Curley’s wife there would be the added shame of knowing that her husband prefers the company of prostitutes. She does not realise that she is a victim of an adulterous husband. She is also a victim in that due to Curley’s philandering. There is less money in the household.
Being a woman she is a victim of her sexuality. There were limited prospects for women such as acting or prostitution. Sexism was very common in those days as women were condemned to a subservient role. She was referred to as ‘Curley’s’, in that she is considered his property, in other words, she is not an individual in her own right. She tries to get over this by going out ‘pretending’ to look for Curley but while asking the other workers she tends to flirt with them, using her looks to attract them. Curley’s wife had no other company besides Curley, who spent most of his day out and about. She didn’t have any real friends so she became a victim of isolation and loneliness. Similar to Curley, his wife is a victim of thwarted ambition as she never took the opportunity of becoming an actress because of her mother’s interference.
The stable buck Crooks was victimised a lot because of his skin colour. His accommodation was separate from the white workers because it was felt that he was not wanted, being a victim of his colour. This was normal in those days since this novel was set before Martin Luther King campaigned for civil liberties for blacks. Having his own room can be a good thing but after a while it gets tedious as he becomes socially isolated. “Come on in a set a while.” This shows that he wants someone to talk to as he is very bored on his own. Unlike the others he can’t play card games or converse in company because he is victimised due to his skin colour. Being a victim of isolation is not nice. When Lennie comes to his room he allows him in even though he knows he is not allowed there as he says ‘Long as you won’t get out and leave me alone, you might as well set down’. He realises he is an outsider which serves to emphasise his isolation and loneliness. He sees no change in this. Crooks gets a taste of power while Lennie is with him because Lennie is very slow and does not do anything to hurt anyone unless provoked, in which he is when Crooks asks him what he would do if George never came back to him. Lennie reacts badly to this because he has a learning disability. The thought of George abandoning him frightens him and he becomes agitated and unsettled by this which he proves by taking a challenging stance with Crooks. ‘He stood up and walked dangerously towards Crooks.’ Crooks realises his taste of power is false and he tries to calm him down by talking gently to Lennie, reassuring him that George will come back.
Crooks, just like Candy, is a victim of his disability. Because of it he needs to apply liniment which can help ease the pain he suffers every day. Having a bent back makes it difficult for him to do a full days work and leaves him open to being ridiculed by other workers.
The above incidents show that the use of the genre, tragedy, surfaces throughout the book. Many characters are victims of personal tragedies. Some they have brought upon themselves, others that have been put upon them. The hard economic times made it difficult for them to break out of their situations. John Steinbeck starts each chapter by setting the scene; each one being described how beautiful the background is. It is ironic that how beautiful each scene is, it jars against the characters’ fate.
In chapter 6, the description of how the water snake smoothly glides up a pool, ‘twisting its periscope head from side to side; and it swam the length of the pool and came to the legs of a motionless heron that stood in the shallows. A silent head and beak lanced down and plucked it out by the head, and the beak swallowed the little snake while its tail waved frantically.’ Steinbeck’s description of nature’s beauty is suddenly shattered by the swift brutality of the heron. This highlights the fact that harshness is even evident in nature.
The language used in this novel is in parts very harsh. The different characters use very offensive words such as ‘nigger’. Some use it as a normal and ordinary word, but others tend to use it in an offensive and derogatory manner. Curley’s wife makes a personal attack on Crooks, Lennie and Candy, offensively saying: ‘An what am I doin’? Standin’ here talking to a bunch of bindle stiffs – a nigger an’ a dum-dum and a lousy ol’ sheep.’
The harsh language used reveals the attitudes of the different characters of ‘Of Mice and Men’. It shows how the people who lived in the times of great hardship were frustrated, and how they took all their anger out on those who are easy targets such as ‘niggers’ and ‘dum-dums’. The language used is indicative of the times, a harsh language in harsh times.
In conclusion there is overwhelming evidence that most of the characters of ‘Of Mice and Men’ are victims in a variety of ways, whether they are victims of bullying, isolation, disabilities or social situations. The poverty caused by the Great Depression contributed to the people being victims as it put great restrictions on their hopes of a better life. The lack of hope for a better life led to many characters accepting their lot as victims.
Patrick McGrath
