...As some of the paramount examples of early 20th century literature, John Steinbeck's novels not only encompass the epitomes in characteristics of the laboring class, but also demonstrate the resilience of the human spirit. Through stories of the downtrodden, Steinbeck teaches the reader a much-needed lesson about the complexity of the world in which we live and the people's response to that complexity. Of Mice and Men's protagonist, George, convincingly personifies the dispiriting mood that spanned America at the time of the Great Depression. Attempting to find work in California, George is depicted as a capable, yet underprivileged, laborer who begins to form conceptions on the dynamics of society. Through George's journey, Steinbeck paints a picture of a typical American worker in the Depression-ridden country, and in turn shows the reader the unfortunate realization that the main character comes to as he searches for a job: the world is designed for the weak to become weaker and strong to become stronger. In other words, the concept of social Darwinism prevails in this novel as, time and time again, the main characters are forced into an endless cycle of poverty (want to say something along these lines but a different word than poverty). "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place. They come to a ranch an' work up a stake and then go inta town and blow their stake, and the first thing...
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...others in this ‘personal hell’ may have physically or mentally injured us; but that does not mean that we should, in this, result living in hell, but can rather choose to live in paradise. Take injustice, the easiest way to allow our lives to turn into sheer nightmare. Inequality, or discrimination happens in our society, purely because that one is of a different nationality, different status, different abilities and talents; to the point even when appearance could be taken in and laughed at. Injustice is everywhere, and there is nothing that can be done to prevent it entirely; as Kino from The Pearl (Stein) and Santiago from The Old Man and The Sea (Hem), the two protagonists from the respective novellas experiences. The former lives in poverty, right next to palaces; and the other has not, being a fisherman, caught any fish for a continuous eighty four days. These unfortunate events, however, is only the basis for their undeserved discrimination. Such happenings contribute to creating a ‘living hell’ towards the both men; it is only a place among internal conflict, pain and hardship that makes the protagonists who they are in the end. Both Kino and Santiago, strive for self respect to break the injustice that society forces onto them creating an illusion of a “living hell” while still coping with their struggle between internal and external conflicts. Immediately in The Pearl, the reader plunges in a world of absolute poverty; an entire village of dirt, littered...
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