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Representations are constructed through the use of language features by the author to enable readers to identify the different social groups. John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” (1937) follows the story of George and Lennie who share a dream of owning their own land during the Great Depression, facing many difficulties as a result of Lennie’s disability. By using the combination of different language features, Steinbeck represents the different social groups of women as hypersexualized and a possession, African Americans as prejudiced and a threat to society, and white American men as violent and antagonistic.
The narrative “Of Mice and Men” makes use of figurative language, symbolism, and lexical choice to present women as sex objects and powerless during a male dominant era of the 1930s. The representation of women in the novel is through Curley’s wife who is the only major female character. The production context is a reflection of the Great Depression which was an era where women were expected to stay home and take care of the children. They were cut from their jobs, for men were seen as a liability in society, whilst women were seen as their husband’s property. Curley’s wife is often described using metaphors to embody her as an object and not a human being. George revealed his expression of Curley’s wife by calling her ‘poison’ which labels her as someone to cause harm to others. This encapsulates the men’s viewpoint of women being destructive, seductive, and manipulative due to how Curley’s wife parades herself wearing provocative clothing. Steinbeck applied derogatory language to showcase the connotations of ‘tart’ and ‘jailbait’ resulting in a low respect and opinion of Curley’s wife from the reader. Curley’s wife is constructed to be ‘othered’ through the men’s actions of excluding her and classifying her as being not one of them. Her given a description of “tart” and “jailbait” throughout the text portrays her as a sex object who doesn’t hold any self-value. This ultimately evokes a feeling of disgust and hatred from the readers as women are to be modest and gracious. The repetition when describing her attire with “red mules, nails were red, red ostrich feathers” symbolizes her as a young woman who is capable of causing trouble by seducing the ranch hands in order to make Curley jealous. Red is an intense color that plays with the reader’s emotions and has the connotation of love and danger, red is commonly used to evoke amorous feelings (red nails, red mules). Furthermore, ostrich feathers have the connotation of wealth and showgirls given that the book was set in the 1930s, ostrich feathers were commonly worn only by wealthy people and performers. However, women are also portrayed as lonely, vulnerable, and victims of sexism where they were treated with prejudice in society. Steinbeck further utilizes a lexical choice of using emotive language within the conversations of Lennie and Curley’s wife about her unaccomplished dreams of becoming a Hollywood star. This signifies that women are impotent to their own dreams and rights as they are to only depend on men. As well as Curley’s wife of feeling no sense of belonging, ‘Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody? Whatta they think I am, anyways?”, drastically changes the reader’s perception of her being scandalous and an exhibitionist to someone who just wanted to feel loved and cared for. Lexical choice plays on the reader’s emotions to feel sympathetic and understanding for women during the great depression. Nowadays, an average Australian who values equality is positioned to feel shocked and sensitive, however, today women are treated with more rights and respect by society. Throughout the years sexism has gradually improved with less discrimination and stereotyping against women, however, sexism is still very much present in today’s generation.
The representation of African-Americans is presented with the use of symbolism, lexical choice, and diction. Crooks, who is the only colored man in the novel remains subject to racist ideas and treatment by his fellow characters. His character gives an insight into how colored people were isolated and brutally treated by white Americans even after slavery had been abolished during the 1930s. The Jim Crow Laws were established in 1877 which legalized black Americans to acquire inferior positions in society and the economy. In addition, African-Americans were to live separately, the affected areas included places such as schools, bathrooms, parks, and hospitals. Crooks being the only coloured character in the novel admits that he feels extremely lonely. When Lennie appeared, Crook’s natural reaction was to turn him away, although due to his desire for company, he eventually invites Lennie in. Crooks’ loneliness is evident by the phrase “s’pose you didn’t have nobody, s’pose you couldn’t go into the bunkhouse… cause you were black”, the repetition of “s’pose” incites a feeling of sympathy as a response from the readers as African-Americans were segregated from the white community. This symbolizes and encapsulates the struggles all African-Americans experienced as a result of the Jim Crow Laws of not being important enough to have the freedom of conversing with the ‘inferior’ race. Throughout the novel, Crooks receives very offensive names such as “stable buck” and “nigger” from the other characters which is the normal treatment for a black man at the time. The connotation of black as being evil and dangerous whilst white is connoted as peaceful and pure symbolizes the racial discrimination and prejudice faced by the colored minorities against the white-skinned society. John Steinbeck uses Curley’s wife to present the cruel and unfair white power over the colored people with, “You keep your place, Nigger. I could get you strung up in a tree so easy it ain’t even funny”. Such comments coming from a woman who was of a very low social status explain once again just how degraded the black Americans were. Crook’s reply, “Yes ma’am” supports the fact that he is aware of racial inequality and keeps it in mind as his ‘reality check’. Steinbeck’s choice of using racial slurs such as the n-word is a reflection of the African-Americans who were represented by Crooks. Specifically, the n-word was used to dehumanize and derogates the colored people. Even Crooks’s name dehumanizes him by being called Crooks for his disability of having a crooked back. Society today is positioned to feel shocked and outraged by such inhuman acts of completely disregarding and rejecting an entire race based only on skin color. Everyone should be equal no matter what color or where we come from because we are all humans. However, racism is still present and regularised in today’s society requiring extra attention in able for it to improve. Therefore Steinbeck utilizes language conventions to present Crooks as an accurate representation of the Africans’ struggle with the effects of racism in the 1930s.
John Steinbeck constructs men in his novel as lonesome; aggressive and violent, which all of the male characters fall under. The historical context of white men is to be the most dominant in the household, which is where their aggressiveness spikes. The 1930s was a male dominant era when men were ‘the supplier’ of the family. The stock market crash (1929) suddenly changed America which resulted in an increase in unemployment. The country’s agriculture industry was the main source of income for most Americans, specifically ranch hands, although the crashing market eventually caught up and many got redundant. George and Lennie represent the large numbers of migrants who immigrated to the South in hopes of finding agricultural work. In the novel, ranch-hand men are one of the loneliest white American classes, as they either abandoned their families or left for work to support them. This is evident through the phrase ‘guys like us who work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world, they ain’t got no family, they don’t belong any place’, this further utilizes symbolism to highlights the lack of companionship that they receive as the men are always on the move for new jobs. This prevented the male characters to create friendships and relationships with others; as a result, males have built up a barrier to instantly become skeptical of those who travel alone. The boss’s confusion upon noticing Lennie and George traveling together is an example of how isolation was so common that whoever was to travel together is doubted. Steinbeck’s novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ has most of the characters as males, which gives the readers an insight into the different levels of masculinity and aggressiveness which were considered male characteristics in the 1930s. Lennie is described as a big and strong man, however, he portrays a childlike and immature character juxtaposing the aggressive qualities of white men. This is supported by Slim’s portrayal of Lennie with, ‘…sure he’s just like a kid, there ain’t no more harm in him than a kid either’, emphasizing his childish characteristics and lack of moral judgment. Due to the Great Depression, men become more violent in order to maintain their traditionally dominant stance and outlook. Curley represents the more hostile and toxic aspect of masculinity supported by his remarks of ‘I’m gonna get him…I’ll kill the big son-of-a-***** myself’, emphasizes the threatening and intimidating nature of men through violence and hostility. An average Australian today is positioned to disagree with the representation of white men as there has been an extreme change in social hierarchy through the years. Although men being the ‘supplier’ of the family is still being continued by the majority. The use of lexical choice, metaphors, and diction collaborate to present men as vicious and aggressive.
John Steinbeck incorporated the use of figurative language to represent various social groups through the text. Women as seductive and hyper-sexualized, however, they are also victims of sexism and imponent to achieve their own dreams. African-Americans as the lowest social class became the most impacted social group from the Great Depression along with their struggles of racism and discrimination from the white-skinned community. White men as hostile and aggressive towards all social groups and to each other, however, they are also somewhat affected by isolation as a result.
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