Novel Reaction: Thinking Forward

What topic or theme that we have touched on during this unit has "hit home" with you the most?  Which theme or topic has a personal connection for you?  Which did you find most captivating or interesting to discuss and investigate during this unit?  Select a topic/theme from the list above that peaks your interest, and, in this week's blog response, discuss why you find it fascinating, which moment in the story you think about when reflecting on this theme, and how this theme is relevant in today's world.

"Discrimination" has really stuck with me the most. I think its what this book is mainly written about; other than Lennie’s character. And I can relate to this topic because I’m from Egypt so discrimination against color, level of education, religion, nationality, poverty all of kind of things you could think of happens everyday maybe even every hour. People don’t care whether your feeling are getting hurt they just do for pleasure. To make them-selves feel like they are better than you are. Also the powerful vs. the powerless. It happens a lot especially in high school like with the senior maybe against the freshman they think they are more powerful than us. Or, even with working people everyday.

A Portrait of Racism

Chapter 4 in Of Mice and Man, paints a very realistic portrait of racism in the 1930s.  Discuss at least two ways in which racism is explored in this chapter.  Include quotes and your own analysis of key moments in this chapter that clearly demonstrate the racism that existed in the American 1930s.  What do readers understand about racism as a result of reading this chapter?

Check out this article titled, "Racial Segregation in the American South: Jim Crow Laws"  to gain a better understanding of the timeline of racial segregation in America.  

 There are parts in the book where racism is discriminated against. In the 1930s black people didn't have as much freedom as white men. Today people come to America for freedom. This picture shows how much people discriminated against the black in the 1930s. But if someone where to put up a sign like that today the people responsible would be the ones discriminated against. Because, they would be labeled as racist which in the United States black people have rights against people who do that. As do white men if it were the other way around. I would understand that after reading this chapter that people really have to learn so manners and be respectful to colored people, whether they are black, yellow, or white. 

Chapter 4 Notes

In this chapter Lennie starts to get to know crooks a little more since he is also being discriminated against because of his skin color. Same as how Lennie is being discriminated against because he has a disability. 

A quote from the book " Just like heaven. Ever’ body wants a little piece of lan’. I read plenty of books out here. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land."

In this quote, Lennie tells crooks his plan to buy a farm and live with George and own a lot of rabbits.

This part mostly describes Lennie dream or as we have been talking about it in class his "American dream". Crooks has a dream to, he explains to Lennie how he wishes people would stop discriminating against him because of his skin color, and he also dreams of the perfect women, because for every man to prove his strength he needs to show that he has the power to get a women.

Crooks attack those who are even weaker than him. In this part of the book Curley's wife threatens crooks.