Of Mice and Men

“Human nature doesn’t change. The Dark Ages were a thousand years of chaos, war, famine and disease: you think that won’t happen again because we have computers and jet planes and cellular phones? Think again.” This quote was written in 1998 by La Femme Nikita and is directly related to the book Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck. The novel Of Mice and Men is about two characters named George and Lennie and their dream of owning their own ranch and being able to live off the land. The novel was written in 1937 and it is a prime example of how human nature does not change, the book is relevant to today because people still get judged by how they look, and many people with power use it in the wrong way.

 

Many people are judged solely based on their appearance alone. In the novel upon George first meeting Curley’s wife he had already made the assessment that she was “[Quite] a tramp.” George kept saying that Curley’s wife was going to be trouble, yet all she wanted was just someone to talk to. Also Crooks being the only ‘colored’ man on the ranch was not welcome in the bunk house with the other men. He had his own room out in the barn, even though just like the other men he had the same dream of possessing his own ranch and just being able to live off the land. Racism is still relevant today and experienced by many, such as Nina Davuluri who after being crowned Miss America had been targeted on social media for many racist comments for being of Indian descent.

 

When people have a lot of power it often gets used in the wrong way. In the novel George was quite a bit smarter than Lennie and he “Used to play jokes on ‘im ‘cause he was too dumb to take care of ‘imself.” One time the joke included Lennie jumping into a river because George told him to, but Lennie couldn’t swim and it almost killed him. Another way this was displayed in the novel was when Curley’s wife was talking to Crooks and she said “Well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.” To which Crooks had no response for he was powerless, and Curley’s wife could get away with whatever she wanted because she could hold that over Crooks. This is portrayed in society today with Justin Bieber as he thinks that because he is famous he can get away with anything he desires to do. Examples include when he went into the back of a restaurant and peed in their mop bucket and his friends said that the restaurant should be “Honored that Justin Bieber peed in their bucket.” Even though it was such a disrespectful and unnecessary thing to do and he should not have gotten away with it.

 

Even though times have changed, human nature hasn’t. This is demonstrated through many examples in the book Of Mice and Men. The novel was written in 1937 but is directly related to many events that happen to this date.