Essay Sample: Social Hierarchies in the Novella of Mice and Men

Stretching back at least 4,000 years, humans have had a history of status division (Setka). Social hierarchies are seen all over the world in numerous places. Social hierarchies consist of different social classes. A social class can be defined as, “a person’s position within the economy, identified by their wealth and income, occupation, level of education, and cultural capital (Fuller 11). While many people describe social classes as someone’s economic status, social class can also describe race and gender, and where they are on the spectrum compared to rich, white men. John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men exhibits social hierarchies, creating a negative division among people, which cannot be eliminated.

Social hierarchies contain different levels of classes. In bi-racial societies, social class is further divided into subclasses within the races. In a bi-racial society, the social hierarchy is upper-class whites, middle-class whites, poor whites, free people of color, mulattoes, and slaves (HierarchyStructure Editors). In the novella Of Mice and Men, all characters could be classified in one branch of the social hierarchy. Slim, for example, would be classified as a middle-class white. In the past, middle-class whites were known as yeoman farmers (HierarchyStructure Editors). This can be seen in Of Mice and Men when the boss is talking to George and the boss said, “They’re picking’ up barley at the threshing machine. Go out with Slim’s team” (Steinbeck 23). This quote shows Slim is higher in the hierarchy because he has his own team. Other characters in Of Mice and Men that are affected by the social hierarchy are George and Lennie. George and Lennie are poor whites. Poor whites are described as people constantly moving from place to place in search of better living (HierarchyStructure Editors). This is seen in Of Mice and Men, as George and Lennie have relocated multiple times, trying to save up to get their own ranch (Steinbeck 6). Moving down the social hierarchy, the classification of mulattoes comes up. A mulatto can be described as a black person who has limited rights. This perfectly describes the character Crooks in Of Mice and Men. Crooks is a black man, and because of that, he has to sleep in the barn by himself (68). Looking at the differences in social classes in Of Mice and Men, it becomes clear that social hierarchies negatively affect people, and it is impossible to eliminate them.

Social classes create a negative division among people. This has been seen throughout history. For example, “The upper classes, on the other hand, began to resent their social inferiors (as they saw the lower classes) even more than ever, particularly after the institution of the number of New Deal programs which were paid for out of taxes on those who still had an income” (“Relations of Class in the Great Depression”). The upper class has historically resented the lower class due to something that is out of the lower class's control. People in the upper class are likely to attack those under them. This has been proven through experimenting with mice. In a study by Leena Hilakivi-Clarke and Richard Lister, they found that “When housed together, male mice are reported to form social hierarchies in which one mouse is dominant” (184). In the same study, Hilakivi-Clarke and Lister found that only the dominant mouse attacks, specifically when there are intruders (188). A similar phenomenon can be observed in the novella Of Mice and Men. George and Lennie went to a new ranch to work, making them the intruders. The dominant person at the ranch they went to is Curley. Lennie laughed when Curley was talking, and Curley slashed at Lennie, smashing his nose and making it bleed (Steinbeck 63). The dominant person attacked an intruder. This attack created division among the characters, as they either supported Curley’s actions, or they supported Lennie’s. Either way, social hierarchies make it difficult to get along with someone who is not in the same class as you.

While social hierarchies put women above black people, women are still placed under the poor whites. The history of America is a “history of women who are less privileged” (Fuller 9). Throughout Of Mice and Men, there is one female character that is mentioned many times, yet she goes by “Curley’s wife.” She does not have her own name. While not being called by your name already exhibits a life of lesser privilege, Curley’s wife isn’t allowed to talk to anyone besides her husband, or else he gets mad at her (Steinbeck 87). To this day, many argue that women are seen as inferior to men. Abigail Fuller asserts, “since women are considered inferior to men, attacking them is okay” (12). While women get attacked more, they are less likely to seek help, “due to a history of being ignored or mistreated by the criminal justice system and social service organizations” (23). A similar event to a woman fearing speaking up occurs in the novella Of Mice and Men. Curley’s wife and Lennie were talking, when Curley's wife announced, “Well, I ain’t told this to nobody before. Maybe I ought to. I don’t like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella” (Steinbeck 89). Curley’s wife never told this to anyone out of fear they wouldn’t believe her. The fear women experience of getting attacked and nobody listening is a fear that has affected women for years due to where they are placed on the social hierarchy. This fear has never and will never go away.

Social hierarchies don’t only divide people based on their social class; social hierarchies also divide people based on the color of their skin. Historically, the term “mulatto” has been used to describe a black person who is between being a free black person and a slave on the social hierarchy scale. Because of their skin color and where they were on the social pyramid, mulattoes had limited rights (HierarchyStructure Editors). While things have gotten better since slavery, during the Great Depression, when Of Mice and Men was released, black people still had limited rights. Along with having limited rights, black people were not treated with the same respect as white people. In a journal written by Abigail Fuller, when looking at the stereotypes of black people, Fuller asserted, “Black women, like black men, have been stereotyped as animal-like as a way of justifying white domination of them” (12). When thinking about animals, many sleep in a barn. In the novella Of Mice and Men, Crooks, a black man, was forced to sleep alone in the barn and was not allowed to sleep in the bunkhouse with the rest of the men because he was black (Steinbeck 68). Readers could view Crooks as having limited rights because the other white men would not allow him to do things, like play cards, with them because he was black. The social hierarchy that puts white people higher than black people has created a division between races that is irreversible.

Some people could argue that social hierarchies have nothing to do with the way a person is treated. In the novella Of Mice and Men, although Crooks is a black man, Lennie and Candy still went into his room and talked to him. This made Crooks feel like a normal person and made him forget about the way the other men treat him (82). Candy and Lennie didn’t only talk to Crooks. Lennie and Candy mentioned the ranch they wanted to get, and Crooks said if they would allow him, he would lend a hand (76). Readers can infer that Candy and Lennie would have let Crooks join them on the ranch. Historically, there have been times when whites and blacks have come together. Take the Freedom Riders for example. The Freedom Riders were made up of thirteen people– seven being African American and six being white. These people came together in the American South in 1961 to protest segregated bus terminals (History.com Editors). The Freedom Riders are not the only time whites and blacks have come together. The Little Rock Nine was a group of nine black students who attended an all-white high school to test the ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, which declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional. The situation with Little Rock Nine occurred in Little Rock, Arkansas. The governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, sent in the Arkansas National Guard to block the black students from entering the school. Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower heard of this and supported the black students by sending in federal troops to escort the Little Rock Nine into the school (History.com Editors). There have been times in history where whites and blacks have come together, regardless of their placement on the social hierarchy pyramid.

The negative division social hierarchies create among people is impossible to eradicate, and the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck shows this. Social hierarchies not only divide people among classes, but they divide people among race and gender as well. In Of Mice and Men, the characters Crooks and Curley’s wife are treated differently because they are white men. A term known as “the gendering of ethnicity” refers to promoting “the image of white, middle-class Americans as ‘normal’ in their gender and sexuality, and others as deviant” (Fuller 11). Overall, while there have been times that people have come together regardless of their standing on the social hierarchy pyramid, people will always be treated differently if they don't fit society's definition of “normal,” and it is impossible to change that.