How does Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men accurately display the prejudiced Ways of thinking and behaving in the 1930s? PDF

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Surname 1 Student’s Name Professor’s Name Course Date How does Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men accurately display the prejudiced Ways of thinking and behaving in the 1930s? The great depression refers to the global economic downturn that began in 1929 and lasted up to 1939. Arguably, the Great depression is the most severe and longest depression that has even been experienced by the industrialized western nations. Over the years, economists have continually studied the factors that led to the great depression. However, for most people, the 1929 stock crash is the leading cause of the Great depression. The 1929 stock crash not only destroyed substantial amounts of wealth but also cast doubt about the overall health of the US economy (Raeburn 79). Some quarters also argue that the protectionist trade policies adopted by the USA and the subsequent collapse of the international trade were main contributors to the great depression. The great depression resulted in massive unemployment, inflation and collapse of businesses not only in the USA but also worldwide (Raeburn 79). Because of this, people’s thinking and culture got significantly affected. Although it is a work of fiction, ‘Of mice and men’, shows many aspects of the prejudiced ways of thinking and behaving in 1930’s culture, such as racism and classism. Racism in the 1930s Racism refers to the ingrained beliefs that a specific race is either inferior or superior to others. Although the great depression resulted in increased suffering to all people, the blacks were affected the most. Notably, African-Americans faced unemployment by fifty per cent or more.

Surname 2 The Caucasians, on the other hand, only faced unemployment by a maximum of thirty per cent (Raeburn 80). Further, the wages of the African-Americans were thirty per cent lower than those of the Caucasians. Arguably, the main reason why African-American suffered the most from the Great Depression is that they were concentrated in the industries and sectors that were most sensitive to the economic cycles (Raeburn 81). The blacks accounted for a significant proportion of the unskilled labor force and were the ‘first to be fired and the last to be hired’. As a result, most African-Americans became unemployed in disproportionate numbers. The massive unemployment of the African-Americans also got augmented by the racist attitude that the Caucasians should not lack jobs when the African-Americans had. This led to the African-Americans getting removed from the various jobs that they had historically occupied such as trash collectors, elevator operators and porters, among others. Further, some of the federal policies such as the New Deal had catastrophic consequences for the African-Americans. Notably, the Agricultural Assistance Agency’s subsidy program resulted in the massive displacement of African-American sharecroppers. The agency had given white planters federal funds to reduce cotton production; however, the African-Americans never received any of these funds (Raeburn 81). Classism in the 1930s Classism refers to the differential treatment of people based on the social classes they are perceived as belonging to (Adams et al.,3). As mentioned earlier, the stock crash that led to the great depression resulted in many people, both the rich and the poor losing their jobs and money. However, the rich were still better than the poor; in that, although the rich had substantially less than they had before the great depression, the poor ended up becoming either homeless or

Surname 3 jobless. Because of the difference in the fortunes, the rich ended up flaunting their wealth more much to the chagrin of the poor. In the 1930s the society was predominantly made up of three classes namely, the upper class, middle class and the lower class. The lower class was made up of the laborers and the African- Americans. The middle class was the smallest and comprised mainly of the Caucasians. The upper class comprised of the Caucasians who had not been affected severely by the crash of the stock market (Adams et al., 4). The upper class continually looked down upon the middle and lower class. As a result, the two resented and hated the upper class. Analysis Throughout his text, Steinbeck’s uses various characters to highlight the rampant racism and classism that clouded the 1930’s. In Steinbeck’s novel, the readers do not get to know Crook’s real name. In section 2, when Candy mentions for the first time about Crook, he avers, “Ya see the stable buck’s a nigger” (Steinbeck 20). Immediately, he follows up on this utterances by saying that, “Crook is a nice fella too” (Steinbeck 20). Arguably, this demonstrates the great extent to which racism was normalized in the 1930s. Presently, many consider the tag ‘nigger’ as an offensive slur; however, at the time, it was viewed as an ordinary moniker. Besides, throughout the text, Crook only gets identified through his color and job. This illustrates the inferiority with which the African-Americans got held at the time. In, of mice and men, Steinbeck demonstrates classism through the differences between the landowners and farmhands. Curley and his folks can do whatever they want and please them for they are rich enough to own a piece of farm. Conversely, George and Lennie cannot do as they wish lest they risk losing their job. “Don’t tell Curley I said none of this. He would slough

Surname 4 me. He don’t give a damn. Won’t ever get canned ‘cause his old man is the boss” (Steinbeck 7). This illustrates the disdain with which the lower class held the upper class. Not only does the of mice and men show the rampant racism that got witnessed in the 1930s but also the class struggles. The case of crook illustrates the great extent to which racism was normalized in the 1930s.

Surname 5 Works Cited Adams, Maurianne, Larissa E. Hopkins, and Davey Shlasko. "Classism." Teaching for diversity and social justice. Routledge, 2016. 231-272. Raeburn, John. "Making Photography Matter: A Viewer's History from the Civil War to the Great Depression." The Annals of Iowa 75.1 (2016): 79-81. Steinbeck, John. "Of mice and men. 1937." Of Mice and Men & Cannery Row (1993)....