The next form of prejudice that is very clear in the novel seems to be the discrimination against people with mental and physical disabilities. Throughout the book there is the main character Lennie who, from the beginning seems slow and unable to cope with many tasks. Although Lennie isn’t directly abused it’s clear he isn’t given the freedom that the other characters are, mainly due to George. He also is very misunderstood. The other men accept he is simple minded but when he does things wrong some of the characters find it hard to understand he doesn’t mean any harm. When Lennie murders Curley’s wife, (accidentally) Curley doesn’t understand it was an accident and says, ‘’I’ll kill the big son-of-a-bitch myself. Ill shoot ‘im in the guts.’’ Showing that he thinks Lennie should die a painful death in justice for what he did, however some of the other characters, such as George, understand that Lennie isn’t in control of his strength and George suggests a less harsh punishment.
Other victims of physical disabilities are Crooks and Candy. Crooks, who was kicked in the back by a horse has a bad spine but (possibly because of his race) isn’t shown much sympathy or special treatment except for when he is forced to fight the other men at the ranch for entertainment, in which case the men aren’t allowed to use their feet because of Crooks’ disability. Candy has a more obvious disability. He supposedly lost his hand in machinery at the ranch but because he’s quite old and isn’t allowed to do much anyway, again he isn’t shown special treatment.
Another major theme is ageism. One of the main characters Candy and also, although it sounds odd, his dog are both victims of ageism. Because candy is so old, he has been allowed to stay on the ranch as it is his home but he seems to merge into the background and doesn’t seem able to voice his opinions and over speak the younger men maybe as much as he would like to. Candy’s dog, who we are told is very old and ragged is actually killed in the novel by the younger men on the ranch. They complain the dog is no use and is a nuisance because of it’s age which seems to reflect onto Candy because he also is old and can’t do much due to the loss of his hand. It makes you feel sorry for Candy, as he doesn’t seem to have much hope left. The men killed the old dog and maybe it’s a warning sign that he could be next. Candy displays his concern of this by saying to George, ‘’you seen what they done to my dog tonight? They says he wasn’t no good to himself nor nobody else. When they can me here I wisht somebody’d shoot me.’’
The last main type of prejudice that comes to light in the novel is sexism. Women back in the 50s were thought of as insignificant and Curley’s wife seems to be suffering from this. Curley seems to see her as a ‘trophy wife’ and doesn’t actually care for her. She seems very lonely in the novel, always craving for attention off the other men on the ranch. Being so lonely I think it’s caused her to become slightly bitter and very aware of the way she looks and the people around her. Even though she is a main character, throughout the novel she is known as ‘Curley’s wife’ and is never given a proper name unlike one of the men called Whit who is only in the novel for a very brief time. This shows just how much women were seen as ‘trophies’ and things that belonged to men.
A very interesting part in the novel is section 4. Most of the men have gone into the town to go to the whorehouse and only Crooks, Candy, Lennie and Curley’s wife are left at the ranch. The 4 all end up gathered in Crooks’ stable. With all the powerful men out of the way, the 4 characters that suffer directly from prejudice everyday are left to fight it out between themselves and try and gain power over the others maybe just to see what it feels like. The scene starts with Crooks and Lennie in the room on their own. Crooks seems quite wary of Lennie until he realises how dim Lennie is. He feels a surge of power and starts to make Lennie feel vulnerable. Lennie gets very upset and soon puts Crooks back in his place by showing his physical strength. This shows that these 2 characters are in a constant war for power because although Crooks is much cleverer and quick minded, Lennie greatly over powers him in physical strength. The next characters to be introduced into the scene are Candy and Curley’s wife. The fight for power continues as Candy becomes more out spoken and not afraid to voice his opinions. Curley’s wife seems to win the power struggle this time by putting the other 3 men down by calling them names such as ‘’nigger’’, ‘’dum-dum’’, and ‘’lousy ol’ sheep’’. She knows she has an edge over the other 3 because of her link with Curley. She uses this contact to threaten the men and it appears the battle is over.
Overall, it is clear that discrimination outlines the main story and is persistent throughout the novel. The power struggles continue to the end of the book. Steinbeck uses the idea of prejudice very cleverly in the book, making you feel sorry for one character after another and then finally leaving you to make your own decision. Some people may say the theme of prejudice is overused but I personally think that its so well thought out and planned that Steinbeck easily gets away with it, creating a very powerful and tension filled novel.
