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In the 1930s during the height of the Great Depression, mental disabilities were seen as a burden on an already struggling society. This was during a time when America did not have the time or resources to commit to people who were not deemed fit, and as such were treated less than human. John Steinbeck portrays this very well in Of Mice and Men through the character Lennie, who has to prove to the society around him that he is not a burden and can perform despite his limitations.
When Steinbeck first introduces us to Lennie, he shows the reader that Lennie relies on George in order to communicate with the society around him. When the two men start talking about their new job, George says, “You jus’ stand there and don’t say nothing. If he finds out what a crazy bastard you are, we won’t get no job, but if he sees ya work before he hears ya talk we’re set. Ya got that?”. Steinbeck is showing that Lennie, a mentally disabled person, needs to prove his worth to the world around him. To give more insight as to why Lennie needs to do this, an article on ‘the balance’ by Kimberly Amadeo states “By 1933, unemployment was 24.9 percent. Almost 15 million people were out of work.” Lennie has to prove his worth because he is competing with a pool of 15 million other people, most being people who are not mentally disabled. Employers at the time needed reliable workers, not someone like Lennie who has shortcomings.
Steinbeck gives us further insight of the attitudes towards people with mental disabilities at the time by showing how other people interact with Lennie. George can be constantly seen harassing Lennie with very harsh and angry words, even going as far to say “If I was a relative of yours I’d shoot myself.” This is a just a small peek into how people with mental disabilities were thought of by society during the 1930’s. Society was cruel in their treatment and feelings towards the mentally disabled, treating them as sub humans. To get a better understanding of what societies attitudes were, you have to know how they treated the mentally disabled. They were often disowned by their families and sent to asylums where they would suffer. According to an article on the history of mental illness by Tricia Hussung, common practice during the time included “Physicians deliberately put the patient into a low blood sugar coma because they believed large fluctuations in insulin levels could alter the function of the brain.” Society went so far as to deliberately put the mentally disabled in comas, effectively killing them, just further proving the point they thought of mentally disabled as sub-human.
In conclusion, John Steinbeck illustrates a very accurate picture of how people treated mentally disabled were treated during the setting of ‘Of Mice and Men’. He utilizes the environment around Lennie to show how society conflicts with him, and also utilizes the interactions Lennie has with other people to show how they treat mentally disabled people.
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