The Embodiment of Isolation By 1930s’ Prejudice in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men

The significance of rejection and exclusion is echoed throughout a myriad of events in history, especially the Great Depression, for countless causes. Causes like: racism, sexism, ableism, and classism. These pointless and pathetic reasons were used to segregate everyone, putting the lowest at the bottom. Those who were at the top were legally able to ruin the lives of those lower than them. And for what, petty laws made by humans, a single race? Well, some rights were made against the likes of the prejudice laws, but there was still discrimination and unfairness. That whole period has had a powerful impact on those involved in it to the people who talk about it today. The result of loneliness and forced isolation during the 1930s had certain impacts on people’s lives from different perspectives of discrimination and a particular author, John Steinbeck, embodies every one in his famous novella, Of Mice and Men.

The concept of loneliness and hustling through prejudice did not necessarily begin during the period of the Great Depression, but it was intensified notably at that time. Many people found themselves out of work and searching for a better life.  Children had to deal with changes in their education if they could attend school and also  greatly suffered from malnutrition. Teenagers who felt that they were a burden to their families or were ashamed of their unemployment and poverty felt the need to leave their homes to find a life of their own. Most of the country’s African-American population lived in rural areas and worked on farms owned by white landowners. So far, it seemed impossible to survive in these conditions and prejudice laws, so The New Deal came into existence. The New Deal provided support for farmers, the unemployed, youth and the elderly. It took action to bring about immediate economic relief as well as reforms in industry, agriculture, finance, waterpower, labour, and housing, vastly increasing the scope of the federal government’s activities. This vouchsafed a semi-tranquil period of peace, but their was still discrimination, it just made it less intense. Then came the Dust Bowl. It was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. People and livestock were killed and crops failed across the entire region. Farmers, and others that were affected, had to leave and migrate to other places in search of work and better living conditions. In result of the period, people were forced to settle in segregated groups concluding in excruciating forsakenness.

There was no place in the world for those of color, so they got the worst of, well, everything. Jobs, homes, health, a place in society — everything. Racism was worse in the south than the north. People in the south was openly racist and commited violent crimes against blacks, especially men. Unlike the south, the north made blacks feel more welcome there, it was more peaceful. They actually had jobs for them, as well, and the New Deal provided programs for uprising American artists. But, racism still went on despite the mild tranquility in the north. Vicious hate crimes were still being commited: Jim Crow Laws prevented black citizens from improving their status or achieving equality, bigotry, The Ku Klux Klan; they killed African Americans regardless of their innocence. Blacks were not considered humans during the 1930’s because of their color, segregation is their reason of suffering.

Women, especially those of color, we’re treated as lesser beings – those who have not other purpose than to serve their family or others by being a mere housewife or weaver. A lot were employed, but they didn’t have good jobs, and it was hard to bring in income. They had rights but, especially women of color, were still discriminated against. They needed to get a full education to be equal to that of a man who had just graduated from elementary. Widows had to not only take care of the family, they had to support them. There were no protections for women in the workplace. Women who had jobs were pressured to give up their jobs for “family men”. They returned to their homes or accepted their low-status jobs. Women having actual jobs was odd. Eleven million women we unemployed. Despite the creation of a few rights, women were still less important: men had better salaries, they were still treated like a housewife, they were not allowed in some schools, were treated as the inferior sex, socially viewed as weaklings, and worked long hours for low wages. Women were treated like lesser beings during this time period, so they struggled markedly, especially if they were black.

The disabled, during this period, were outcasts left to live among the street due to the fact the could not work nor care for themselves. They were discriminated against in favor of able-bodied people, those who can be trusted and can actually work without any trouble. They suffered biased assumptions, harmful stereotypes and irrational fears and were with disabilities in a severe state of impoverishment for centuries, not unlike other minorities. They were considered meager, tragic, pitiful individuals unfit and unable to contribute to society, except to serve as ridiculed objects of entertainment in circuses and exhibitions. The Occupational Safety and Health Act was not introduced in the USA until 1970, so there was minimal health and safety regulations in 1930s California. Medical treatment for mental illnesses at that time were: Hydrotherapy, Metrazol Convulsion Therapy, and Insulin Shock Therapy. Finding jobs was another issue as well. People with disabilities throughout American history have faced difficulties in getting work skills and finding jobs. They could only find work that exploited their physical differences: “freak shows” and circuses. Ableism in the 1930s forced disabled people to be outcasts, to not even be considered members of society.

The hierarchy during the Great Depression was categorized into groups: the upper class, middle class, and the lower class. Everyone was judged on their class and those who were on a lower rank suffered prejudice against in favor of people belonging to a higher social class. After the start of the Great Depression, the rich were able suffer less than the poor. They still had much of their wealth that they held before the Depression and, in some cases, did not suffer unemployment. The poor were thrown out of work by the Depression. They were either unemployed or had horrible jobs. They lived in slums or beat up/run down houses. The middle class was small and only consisted of poor white families that did not live in bad conditions. Considering the other classes, their lives were generally okay. They were still looked down upon and were considered “white trash”. The 1930s incident barely left any way of success for those in the lower classes, it was slim at most.

Constructed on the way of life in 1930’s America, Steinbeck wrote his novella, Of Mice and Men, with certain characters incarnating each of the main acts of prejudice at that time. Crooks manifested racism; he was the only person discriminated against for color.  During his talk with Lennie, he talked about his past and why he did not want anyone in his room: “The white kids come to play at our place, an’ sometimes I want to play with them, and some of them was pretty nice. My ol’ man didn’t like that. I never knew till long later why he didn’t like that. But I know now” (Stenbeck, 35). Crooks was not allowed to spend time with whites, he was excluded from every even due to his being African American. Curley’s wife would be the obvious choice as an example for sexism, but Whit mentioned other women who boldly exhibits sexism other than the author using Curley’s wife as a more subtle representation: “Susy opens the door and then she yells over her shoulder, ‘Get yor coats on girls, here comes the sheriff.’ She never talks dirty neither. Got five girls there” (Steinbeck 26). During this time, it was common to have the mindset that women were just objects to be used and discarded whenever. Just pieces of meat, beautiful in the beginning,  then used and left to rot. Ableism is shown through Lennie and Candy and his dog. Carlson was brutally blunt with his hate for the dog and wanted to get rid of the dog by killing it: “Got no teeth,” he said “He’s all stiff with rheumatism. He ain’t no good to you, Candy. An’ he ain’t no good to himself. Why’n’t you shoot him, Candy?” (23). Slim sided with Carlson, too. He stated that the dog is no good to himself and that he wished somebody would shoot shoot him if he got old an’ a cripple” (23). Disabled people were forgotten about since no one wanted to hire them. They needed someone to be at their side always and was incapable of taking care of themselves. So they were just left to roam around the town, homeless and suffering alone. Classism was expressed through the boss and his son, Curley, and their privileges as heads of the ranch: “Lennie was just finishing making his bed. The wooden latch raised again and the door opened. A little stocky man stood in the open doorway. He wore blue jean trousers, a flannel shirt, a black, unbuttoned vest and a black coat. His thumbs were stuck in his belt, on each side of a square steel buckle. On his head was a soiled brown Stetson hat, and he wore high-heeled boots and spurs to prove he was not a laboring man” (11). Curley was dressed in a similar fashion: he wore high-heeled boots, just like his father (13). Since they are of a higher class than everyone, they think they have the right to bully and treat them like lesser beings. They do no work yet have the right to boss everyone around, while the others work hard and get nothing out of the ground.

When one considers the concept of seclusion and segregation during the Great Depression period, it is clear that it has had an impact on Steinbeck and he manifests that in his novella, Of Mice and Men.

Works Cited

• https://academic.mu.edu/meissnerd/depression.htm
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal
• https://www.britannica.com/event/New-Deal
• https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/dust-bowl
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_Bowl