Steinbeck used his success and talent as a medium through which to express his own views and opinions. Undoubtedly his most famous novel, The Grapes Of Wrath, was a novel full of pungent protest. Due to their particularly nomadic lifestyles not much could be done to arrange welfare for ranch-hands. In Steinbeck’s masterpiece The Grapes Of Wrath he communicates his concern about the treatment of the American labourers and exhibits his support for Roosevelt’s attempts to repair the damage caused by the Depression and reduce unemployment.
There is unquestionably an element of protest in ‘Of Mice And Men’, hostile to evils such as racial discrimination and prejudice, the treatment of old people and the way in which women were treated, as if they were second-class citizens. Steinbeck also objects to the loneliness that the workers are subjected to and the fact that those who work on the land do not receive the chance to reap the rewards. I believe that Steinbeck was ahead of his time in recognising, when most thought it was customary to treat individuals differently in relation to the colour of their skin, their age or their sex and accepted it, that this was unethical and helped countless individuals realise this too.
One area of protest is against the appalling treatment of people of a different race, for example Crooks who Steinbeck depicts with significant sympathy. Crooks, the negro “stable buck” who works tending horses on the ranch is a target of prejudice and loneliness. During the novel Crooks suffers at the hands of the racist people surrounding him and is the victim of oppressive aggression and discrimination. Often referred to as “the nigger”, it is a double burden to be a cripple.
The reason for the loneliness felt by Crooks is the discrimination he suffers due to the colour of his skin and his crooked back. He is isolated from the other workers who treat him with disrespect and he “ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse” where the other ranch-hands are. Crooks is a literate and intelligent man who has withdrawn behind a façade of coldness and reserve to protect and shield himself from the harshness of his life, his true personality crushed by years of resentment and bitterness.
We learn of his true personality when Crooks teases Lennie, employing a “private victory”, and then proceeds to show sensitivity when he realises he has upset Lennie. As readers we also observe how Crooks withdraws when Curley’s wife enters the room. She threatens him and lets him know she can have him “strung up”. Crooks tells Candy of his interests in “the dream”, showing the tragedy of life and forewarning us that George and Lennie’s dream is soon to be shattered We are omnitient and observe the sorrowful and dispirited life that Crooks leads. Everyone who reads the novel understands how immoral the treatment of Crooks is and in this Steinbeck has succeeded in helping people to recognise racism.
As Steinbeck himself experienced the life of a ranch worker he appreciated how lonely the workers felt whilst leading such a nomadic existence and how the intense isolation drove them to cynicism. One of the main themes in ‘Of Mice And Men’ is loneliness and Steinbeck draws on several characters within the novel to campaign against the seclusion and isolation itinerant workers were subjected to. Although the central protagonists George and Lennie have each other the reason for the friendship is, among other things, mutual loneliness. Nevertheless George still describes himself and his loyal companion Lennie as “the loneliest guys in the world” displaying clearly the isolated itinerant lifestyle that they lead.
Candy and Curley’s wife are also employed by Steinbeck to highlight the loneliness, however the reason for their loneliness is not identical to the loneliness of the other ranch-hands. Candy is old and crippled, nearing the end of his useful life on the farm and has little to look forward to. The loss of his hand also stresses the casual violence of the ranch-hands lives. He is provided with companionship from his “old dog” that gets shot in a startling parallel plot that forewarns us about the shooting of George’s companion Lennie. Subsequent to the death of his dog, however, Candy is given renewed comfort by the prospect of a part ownership of the dream farm with George and Lennie.
Curley’s wife is initially portrayed as a temptress who, although she is married, enjoys flirting with the ranch-hands and flaunts herself around the ranch, conscious of the effect this has on the workers. As the novel progresses we realise why she behaves this way. Curley’s wife dreams of a superior life as a “movie” star, yet she is a woman living in a patriarchal society where she will always be treated as a second class citizen. Steinbeck realised and objected to the faults in the male dominated society of the time although Curley’s wife does exert a certain power over Crooks.
Curley’s wife is never named during the novel, she is seen as one of Curley’s possessions. She is not treated as an individual and is neglected by Curley; she seeks attention and “gets awful lonely”. At her death Steinbeck creates a calm atmosphere, one of stillness as a tribute to Curley’s wife, “sound stopped and movement stopped”. She achieved a tranquil peacefulness that she never experienced in life. In death she is idyllic, “the meanness and the plannings and the ache for attention were all gone from her face”.
However there are certain areas that consist of no protest whatsoever from Steinbeck, such as the dream that promises to change the lives of so many of the characters and promotes intense feelings of optimism throughout the novel. Nor does Steinbeck comment on Lennie’s state of mind. Whilst some would argue that Lennie should be placed in a mental home or “booby hatch” there is no evidence to suggest that Steinbeck believed this to be true.
Steinbeck sensitively dealt with the issue concerning “cat houses”, handling the facts of the lifestyle in a frank and unequivocal manner. He relates events as they were at that period of time passing no judgement and showing no protest. He was merely concerned with telling it like it is, as they say. These are the qualities that earn him such a worthy reputation as an author, and yet he is so much more. Bringing to the forefront issues that have previously been pushed to the back and hidden as taboo subjects, Steinbeck helped many to realise the state of society.
