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Jessica Longhi’s Response to Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men”

Of Mice and Men: Looking at George Milton as a Caregiver 

In John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, character George Milton exemplifies the difficulties that caretakers of special populations face in his interactions with Lennie Smalls. George and Lennie travel together as they work on farms. It quickly becomes clear that Lennie has some form of a behavioral and/or cognitive disability. Lennie and George are both adults, but their exact age is unclear. Despite having entered adulthood, Lennie displays childlike behavior; “his huge companion [Lennie] . . . flung himself down and drank from the surface of the green pool . .  . ‘Lennie, for God’s sake don’t drink so much . . . Lennie. You gonna be sick like you was last night” (Steinbeck 2-3). While traveling to a new farm to work for, Lennie and George stop by a semi-stagnant pond. Without thinking of the safety of the water, Lennie focuses on the need to satisfy his thirst. George, acting as Lennie’s guardian, prevents Lennie from drinking too much to avoid sickness. This is just one of many instances when Lennie needs the help of George in order to survive. 

As the pair of men travel to a new farm to work at, the reason why they left their previous town is revealed. “You get in trouble, you do bad things and I got to get you out” George tells Lennie (Steinbeck 10). Prior to leaving, Lennie wanted to feel the cloth of a dress a girl in town happened to wear. Lennie approached the girl with no ill-intent, but she screamed. In response to the girl’s scream, Lennie himself became frightened and did not release his grip. The girl then claimed that Lennie raped her, resulting in the need for Lennie and George to run out of town. Throughout the novel, George points out that his life would be easier without having to take care of Lennie; “If I was alone I could live so easy” (Steinbeck 10). Lennie lacks the general understanding of the world that George possesses. Although George has his own faults, such as the language he uses to address Lennie, he acts as Lennie’s guardian with the best intentions by shielding Lennie from a world that does not understand him. 

When George and Lennie arrive at the new farm in California, George instructs Lennie to not speak to anyone. George fears that if their new boss learns of Lennie’s disability, that the boss will remove them from the farm. George creates a story about Lennie that the other men on the farm will understand; “He got kicked in the head by a horse when he was a kid. He’s awright. Just ain’t bright. But he can do anything you tell him” (Steinbeck 21). The other men working the farm are able to understand Lennie’s behavior when there is a physical reason for it – such as the lie of Lennie receiving a kick to the head from a horse. George understands the worldview that faces people with disabilities, and does his best to protect Lennie from the brunt of it all. Ultimately, everything that George does for Lennie is to protect Lennie from the misunderstandings of others.  

Disability In Steinbeck’s novel, “Of Mice and Men” by Samantha Rogers

In John Steinbeck’s novel “Of Mice and Men,” we are introduced to the two main characters, George and Lennie. Throughout Steinbeck’s novel, George and Lennie travel in search of work, with hopes that they will eventually own property of their own. With big dreams in mind, the two boys travel to work on a Ranch. Disability is displayed within Steinbeck’s novel and is mainly depicted within the character, Lennie. George, the leader of the two, has promised Lennie’s aunt that he will take care of Lennie. Although we are unsure what Lennie’s disability is, it is obvious that his IQ and maturity level are low. This can be seen with Lennie’s obsession with soft things. When he finds something with qualities that are soft, whether it be fabric, a woman’s skirt, or a dead mouse, Lennie strokes the item and becomes attached.

Having a tendency of saying and doing things that George deems he shouldn’t, Lennie is continuously quizzed by George on the way to the ranch. George tells Lennie that he is not allowed to speak when they arrive at the ranch, as he is worried, they will not get the job if he does so. Throughout their travels, we notice George’s level of frustration and irritation with Lennie and his disabilities. Feeling ashamed and not wanted, Lennie tells George that he will leave and find a cave to live in so that he is no longer an irritant to George. Guilty for his actions and harsh words towards Lennie, George insists that Lennie stay with him. The conversation and mood between the boys are lightened as they begin talking about their big goals. Throughout the novel, it becomes evident that Lennie’s main goal is to own and tend to rabbits, but in order for him to do so he must follow directions given by George.

When the boys finally arrive at the ranch, George speaks for both himself and Lennie. Lennie’s disability is further seen when Curley attempts to beat Lennie. Without a mean bone in his body, Lennie is unsure how to defend himself. When George tells him to fight back, initially Lennie struggles to do so. However, as he is encouraged further, he ends up severely hurting Curley. As we dive deeper into the novel, it becomes clear that the fight scene between Lennie and Curley was not beneficial for Lennie due to his disability. Although Lennie is not mean and would never hurt anyone or anything intentionally his strength leads to the death of both animals and people.  

In the novel, John Steinbeck also displays disability through a man, known as Crooks. Crooks, an older, African American man, has a limp and is isolated due to his race. Due to being isolated, Crooks has a temper and becomes irritated when Lennie comes into his room. Our first impression of Crooks, as a mean, angry man, quickly shifts and it becomes evident that Crooks mood is based on the fact that he is lonely. Although Crooks has a physical disability, his disability lies deeper than what is seen, as he struggles internally with isolationism and loneliness. Steinbeck’s portrayal of disability is relatable to Mary Shelley’s novel, “Frankenstein.” Crooks character reminds me of the Creature in Mary Shelley’s novel and much like Crooks, the Creature is isolated due to his size and outward appearance. After being isolated and lonely for a long period of time, the two characters become angry and take their frustration out on others to make their point known.

I pledge: Samantha Rogers

Word Count: 585

Oscar Wilde Fun

I really liked The Star Child – I have actually never read Oscar Wilde’s short stories (I know, I’m terrible) but there is a real beauty in the way that he articulates meaningful messages, like in this one, to not “judge a book by its cover,” or, “you won’t appreciate what you have until it’s gone.” I thought of this in a general sense as the moral story of appreciating parent to child relationships. For example, when children grow up to be adults, some lose appreciation for their parents. Then, as they grow older, they realize they too are becoming old. They begin to wish for the relationship they had before with their parents.

Now, to talk about what interested me from a disability perspective. The mother. This is something I’ve seen in a lot of older adults in their life – that their age in itself is disabling them. Especially if they are financially unwell off or are in circumstances you cannot control in life. You can see this in jobs, in relationships, and even in families. People give up on older people. There are fewer opportunities and credibility given to older people because they… should already have their life together, undesirable, easily drifting into the background. I think this representation could especially be seen in the boy. I thought of it as his age was, in a fantasized way, accelerated. Then he, too, was ugly.

A critique I would say is that, just because he can “relate” to his mother in the end, it doesn’t mean that he should just all of a sudden be handsome again. Yes, it could be a lesson of, “if you were in my shoes,” but oftentimes for people with disabilities, their disabilities are invisible and it is harder for people to get a perspective of their experience. As we talked about in previous classes, disabled persons may not be represented medically or in “first person.” Or, their disabilities are visible and people look away in fear, disgust.

Kaitlin’s Response to Oscar Wilde’s The Selfish Giant

            In Oscar Wilde’s short story, The Selfish Giant, Wilde shares the story of a Giant who returns to his beautiful garden after a seven-year hiatus. Upon his return, he sees children playing in his beautiful garden home and becomes enraged. He then builds a barricade and places a noticeboard on the wall which forbids any trespassers. The Giant then experiences an endless and isolated winter inside his garden where there he remains alone without any children or visitors. He eventually becomes tired of being alone and wishes for the end of winter and the beginning of spring. The Giant then lets the children back into his garden and the barricade is broken down. 

            In my interpretation of the story, I found that Oscar Wilde portrays disability through the Giant and the character’s various highs and lows throughout his life in a similar pattern to those who are diagnosed with Bipolar disorder. The prolonged winter is a symbol for the Giant’s depressive episode. The winter is described as a “cloak” that covers the garden which can be portrayed as a symbol of hiding and isolation. He separates himself from all of the outside world and remains alone without explanation. In contrast to his depressive episode, the springtime in the garden is a high for the character. The springtime breaks down the barricade guarding his garden and allows the children back into the Giants life. I interpreted the children and sunshine to represent his happiness and how he is removing himself from isolation, or a depressive episode. I found parallels between Oscar Wilde’s Giant and Mary Shelley’s character Victor in Frankenstein. Victor exhibited similar drastic highs and lows throughout his story. He was content and happy during his time creating his creature, and isolated while he was avoiding the monster and his peers when spending time alone laying in his bed. 

            The language used to surround the Giant also aligns with the societal stereotype of using negative descriptive language to describe those with disabilities even when it is unintentional. He is the “selfish” Giant for remaining in isolation and not sharing his home with the children in town. There are often negative terminologies used to display those struggling with mental illness because it is not a physically shown disable. Similarly in Simi Linton’s “Reassigning Meaning” article, she discusses the way that language is used to describe those with disabilities that was created from the outside community and how it makes those who are disabled seem like a “burden or a problem” and “devalued” (Linton 22). Linton also discusses how it forced an “us and them division of the population” which is found in Wilde’s story as the Giant is separated from the townspeople and not considered to be the same (Linton 23). This language is counterproductive to society and Wilde shows the divide in the community between the Giant and the rest of the community. 

            Wilde represents disability in The Selfish Giant similarly to Mary Shelley in Frankenstein because they both illustrate characters that portray disabilities that are not mentioned, and their characters are looked at negatively by their communities and seen as abnormal. 

I pledge. 

Word count: 522

Elizabeth Brewer and Frankenstein

When I was reading the parallels made between madness and disability, I kept thinking about the Creation and how he would fit between these two distinct terms or labels, disabled and mad.

Frankenstein’s “evil” (murders) manifests from the anger and resentment he feels towards Victor, who we’ve described in class as the stereotypical mad scientist. The Creation as a “mad” individual, instead of a disabled individual, can definitely be argued based on how Victor has neglected and segregated the Creation.

As a “mad” character, his acquirement of self-dependency, a wealth of knowledge, and even superior strength… automatically makes him more of a threat to society than before. This is also seen when Victor contemplates creating the mate for the Creation. He fears the potential control that they could have. (this also screams Linton’s Reassigning Meaning… passiveness: disabledness and contol: abledness.) Victor doesn’t want to understand the Creation and would rather him be passive and easy to manipulate; he would rather the Creation be dead. As the creator, this could really highlight how psychiatric institutes would drive mentally ill or disabled persons to an even more unstable state. I think it is interesting to look at the Creation through the lens of the doctor/patient perspective. Like, the humanitarian aspect of just wanting to be seen and wanting to improve c/s/x livelihood is similar to how the Creation just wanted a better living standard.

The Creation truly just wanted to be recognized and have their own identity and relationship with Victor. Brewer talked about embodiment and I think that section of the text would explain this idea well. There was this idea of, “individuals are labelled rather than individuals choosing their own labels.” and the Creation simply wanted to be seen as the moral and sensitive creature he was rather than the monster he was made out to be.

Depression in Frankenstein

As my group was discussing Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, I was particularly interested in the time we devoted to acknowledging the possible presence of depression in Victor’s life. We talked about how he was seeking a sense of companionship in pursuing his creation, but struggled to figure out why he felt like he needed a companion when he already had Elizabeth and his family.

Before we had started questioning this, someone in our group brought up the possibility of Victor being depressed. This clicked with me in our discussion, leading me to suggest that if Victor were a depressed individual, he might have felt alone no matter how many friends or family he had. For many people with depression, irrational feelings of loneliness and isolation are a prominent part of their disorder. From this viewpoint, it would make sense that Victor sought a relationship with someone that he knew would forever be connected to him.

This could all be a reach, but I think it was a very eye-opening part of our discussion and allowed us to look at Victor with sympathy, rather than with annoyance.

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