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Of Mice And Men Marginalized Analysis

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“I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick… He can’t turn to some other guy and ast him whether it’s right or not. He got nothing to measure by” (Steinbeck 73). This is something Crooks says while talking to Lennie about himself. He’s explaining what it’s like to be him, all alone, with no one by your side . In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, marginalization plays a very large role in many of the characters lives. To put it simply, marginalization is when someone, or a group of people is treated as insignificant. Along with Crooks, Lennie and Candy are also marginalized by the rest of society. However, people can be marginalized in different ways. There is more than one reason for someone to be seen as less important or insignificant, …show more content…

Unlike all of the other characters in the story, Crooks is treated as an outcast for one very simple reason that everyone can see, he’s black. In more current and progressive times, people of african descent are treated much more equally than in the past when this story took place. The problem is that people have always discriminated against others for being different, no matter how different they are. If someone has a crooked nose, people will make fun of it. If someone has a lazy eye, people will make fun of it. If someone is in the vast minority and looks completely different from most other people, people are definitely going to marginalize that person. In the story when Crooks tells Lennie to leave his room, he mentions how he isn’t allowed in the bunkhouse. Lennie responds by asking why he isn’t wanted, and crooks says simply, “Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all stink to me” (Steinbeck 34). In that small statement he summed up every single reason why we has lived in marginalization for his entire life, it’s simply because he’s black. Just because he was born a certain way, he is treated as less of a human, and there is nothing he can do about it, he just has to live his life being isolated and …show more content…

Unlike Crooks, Lennie is treated differently because of what’s on the inside and the outside. People are terrified of the colossal giant they witness on the outside, yet they also tease and make fun of the simple minded soul on the inside. He is seen as an outcast for two reasons, both very different from each other. Nearly every single person in the entire book makes comment on how he’s so odd. The only person who is always there for him is George, but even then, George doesn’t respect Lennie. In chapter four of the book, when all of the guys go to the brothel and Lennie goes to see Crooks, he asks Lennie to leave. Lennie replys by saying, “Ever’body went into town, Slim and George and ever’body. George says I gotta stay here an’ not get in no trouble” (Steinbeck 34) Here you can see that George doesn’t treat Lennie as an equal, he’s more taking care of him, he thinks of Lennie like a dog or something you have to constantly look after or it’s going to mess something up. This shows that every person in the book marginalizes Lennie, even George, someone who he sees as his closest friend treats him differently than everyone else. He has become a burden to everyone around him, and now he is just

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