Of Mice and Men. How does the Soledad ranch represent 1930s America?

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How does the Soledad ranch represent 1930s’ America?

Steinbeck wrote the novel ‘of mice and men’ in 1937. He wrote the novel to  portray  how  migrant  workers  lived. The  message  he  was  trying  to  convey  was  the  American  dream  and  the  great  depression. Steinbeck conveys this  message  through the variety of characters  he uses in the  book.  In  my  essay  I  will  be  examining racism,  sexism ,  loneliness , isolation  and  itinerant  workers.

The presence of Curley’s  wife  is  inappropriate in  the ranch as she not seen to be participating in any of the work that is done there. Steinbeck  conveys  this  image  of  curleys  wife  in  order  to  comment  upon  sexism  in  the  1930s’, by  showing  that  women  weren’t  suitable  to  work  on  ranches  he  writes  that  “her fingernails were red” . The choice of the colour red is to portray Curley’s wife in a provocative image as the colour red signifies passion and sexuality.  Furthermore,  Steinbeck  could  have  been  trying  to  represent  Curley’s Wife as  danger which ties in with sexism in the ranch .

In  the  Soledad  ranch  it  was  all  about  status  and superiority, because  Curley’s  wife  had  a  high  status  by  being  the  boss’s  son’s  wife. She  had  the  authority  to  fire  people  who  didn’t  treat  her  right . She  had  the  potential  to  be  dangerous  and  I  think  this  was  one  of  the  things  the  red  nail  polish  signified.

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 Steinbeck  presents  isolation  alongside  race .  The racism factor is evident in the quote” cause  I’m  black  ,  says  crooks  they  play  cards  in  there  ,  but  I  can’t  play  because  I’m  black.  They say I stink.  Well  I  tell  you,  you  all  of  you  stink  to  me.”  This  quotation  illustrates  Steinbeck  showing  the  isolation  of  crooks  because  of  his  race.  The  reason  the  reader  gets  this impression  is  because  Steinbeck  writes  “they  play  cards  in  there,  but  I  can’t  play  because  I’m  black.  The impression Steinbeck conveys of crooks is a sympathetic character. Steinbeck writes about racism because ...

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