Discrimination

Question 1

SEXISM

Answer 1

CURLEY”S WIFE:
“can’t talk to nobody but Curley”
-only woman on the ranch
-excluded from activities
-seeks company and attention
“tart”
-constantly being called derogatory terms due to her flirty behaviour
-constantly heavily objectified throughout the novella
“listen Nigger…”
-her discrimination is her only resort and weapon to show her worth to Crooks

CAT HOUSE:

• women=low value
• items to please men
• shown without self-respect

Question 2

RACIAL

Answer 2

quotes:

• “nigger”
• “negro stable buck”
• “why it’s just a nigger sayin’ it”
• ”s’pose you couldn’t go into the bunk…cause you was black”

CROOKS:
-he’s coloured so is automatically isolated by others
-blocks himself from the other ranch hands as he isn’t used to being a part of society
-no one feels pathos for him because no one can sympathise with him
“Guys don’t come into a coloured man’s room”
-no one is willing to spend time with him
-separated from the rest of the ranch hands (bunks)
“If you guys don’t let me in your house to play cards, why should i let you in mine?”
-black people felt the same way towards white people

Question 3

AGEISM

Answer 3

CANDY:
“lousy ol’ sheep”
-allowed to stay at the ranch despite his old age
“why’n’t you get Candy to shoot his old dog”
-the workers valued strength over heartwarming attachment

Question 4

DISABILITY

Answer 4

CROOKS:
-not called by his real name
“busted-back nigger”
-named after his crooked back

CANDY:
“they’ll can me purty soon”
-lost limb on ranch and is therefore only given simple jobs
-he’s also very old and can’t do much work

LENNIE:
-learning disability/intellectually impaired
“dum dum”
-people at the time didn’t understand this kind of illness and is badly treated by others
“if he finds out what a crazy bastard you are we won’t get no job, but if he sees ya work before he hears ya talk we’re set”
-mental backwardness+huge physical strength
-George is worried that his lack of intelligence will jeopardise their chances of being hired
-(before civil rights) Great Depression reduced the value of intelligence as he can still work like other men
-his strength was therefore a huge asset in 1930s America