Of Mice And Men Stereotypes Essay

Of Mice and Men Stereotypes

Known for the Dustbowl, the Great Depression, prohibition, and the woman’s suffrage movement, the Roaring Twenties’ is a landmark in American History. The book Of Mice and Men gives us a dry, graphic flashback to what this era was all about. It exposes the prejudices that drive so many human interactions still to this day. John Steinbeck uses stereotypes to convey his message of what life was truly like in the twenties for the discriminated: women, mentally challenged, elderly, and African-Americans. Women’s role in society changed significantly, blacks were still suppressed, the mentally challenged were thought worthless and easily manipulated, and the elderly were seen as decrepit and useless souls. Though times have changed, we still have a marathon to crawl before we see equality in our world.
The ladies of the twenties were determined to get what their suppressed, little hearts desired. Beaten, neglected, and stepped on, the women of the twenties were trapped in an unforgiving world of uncertainty and fear. Expected to walk the straight and narrow, they treated their husbands like royalty, and never thought for themselves. But an era was approaching, the silence before the storm of rebellion had lasted for too long. They were ready to break free of their chains and claim their long awaited independence.
In 1920, when the Nineteenth Amendment was passed, the earthquake of women’s rights shook our earth into a new era. The passage of the amendment is not only symbolic for female rights, but it also has marked a major shift in American society's perception of women. Women started asserting themselves. They started a group of rebels named the Flappers. Known for wearing make-up and short dresses, these flirty, individualized young women asserted their freedom by voting, driving cars, dancing, drinking, smoking cigarettes, staying out late, and going to "petting parties". The 1920s are referred to as the Roaring Twenties, mainly...