The question of disability and mental well being

Of Mice and Men

Throughout record, those who are certainly not on level with these around them usually be neglected. This is a trend viewed among pets as the runt of a litter gets killed, eaten, or put aside, and is viewed among human beings as the mentally questioned or bodily handicapped happen to be treated differently and sometimes directed off to separated services to be handled. Although the take care of lesser prepared animals offers stayed the same over time, it has drastically transformed for human beings as they possess raised the standard of living for those with mental and physical problems. Even though they can be not yet cured as equates to non-handicapped persons, their life-style has significantly changed coming from being left behind in an inhuman “treatment” service, to helped integration in to daily life”enough at least for them to function semi-independently, with minor supervision or aid. In comparison to normal treatment of the mentally challenged during the depression era, Lennie, a central character in Steinbecks Of Mice and Men, was quite pampered by his friend George.

What individuals define because “mentally challenged varies among person to person. Relating to a medical dictionary, “the United States Government defines a disability as ‘a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more associated with an individuals major life activities’ this includes equally those individuals which has a record of your impairment and others regarded as having such an impairment” (Mentally Challenged”). It also says, “The Globe Health Organization defines impairment as loss in function in the level of the full person, which might include failure to communicate or to carry out mobility, activities of everyday living, or required vocational or perhaps avocational actions, rehabilitation is usually aimed at educating patients to remediate or perhaps compensate and so maximize efficient independence” (Mentally Challenged”). So , as it will be defined in this paper, psychologically challenged will be used in reference to those who have an in ability to function normally in everyday life without aid. This kind of applies many specifically to Lennie, who would be unable to continue working on a hacienda successfully with no George’s direction.

Of Mice and Men in set through the depression era in the United States, in which and when it had been written by the author, John Steinbeck. It takes place at a ranch and its surrounding areas. It starts off with Lennie and George after obtaining kicked away their shuttle bus. They are jogging through the region as they check out the next farm theyre gonna be employed for. They are a number of miles to the south of Soledad (Steinbeck 1) by the Salinas River. It can be spring depending on the condition of the spot, with the willows fresh and green (Steinbeck 1) as well as the debris with the winters surging (Steinbeck 1) going through the river. Below by the lake is in which the two males initiate their journey, and where they will promise in order to meet up if perhaps anything happens at this fresh ranch theyre going to. This is also a well-placed location in order that when George shoots Lennie it is continue to in a near enough distance for the ranchers to hear the taken.

Lennie is a gradual, strong, and kind human being that is violent inadvertently. Lennie was “a big man, shapeless of face, with large pale eye, with large, sloping shoulders” (Steinbeck 2). He “walked heavily, dragging his foot a little, the way in which a bear drags his paws. His arms did not swing in his attributes, but strung loosely” (Steinbeck 2), demonstrating he, like a large pet, is good, but not elegant or speedy (mentally or perhaps physically). He can also quite fond of gentle, pretty items, such as rodents, bunnies, and women. When he is first introduced, he’s discovered keeping a mouse in his pocket or purse to stroke and is later on chastised pertaining to killing it and even going into a pond to obtain it the moment lost. He was driven from the previous farm he was employed at as they grabbed a girl and she claimed rape, and having been driven from the current ranch for accidently breaking the boss’s son’s wife’s neck. George is a good character, just like Lennie, and comes across since his foil. He is the one who keeps Lennie in line and watches to the they are all. He is the cause they have a goal in life, employment, income, and a future forward. George is a smart, cunning, and calculating human being who is Lennie’s sole caretaker in life. He was the opposite of Lennie by how he “was small , and quick, dark of encounter, with restless eyes and sharp, solid features. All of him was defined: small , good hands, slender arms, a skinny and bony nose” (Steinbeck 2). Through on this position he sets his own life and career at risk in order to conserve the stability of his friend. He admits to how he utilized to bully Lennie. He would “play jokes about ‘im trigger he was also dumb to take care of ‘imself. Nevertheless he was also dumb to even find out he had a faiytale played on him” (Steinbeck 40). George would tease Lennie since it made him feel wise in comparison, yet eventually halted as he noticed how reliant and mixed up the poor gentleman was. This individual tells the storyline of how he told Lennie to bounce into a pond one day, exclusively for fun, nevertheless Lennie practically drowned.

After planning to drag the man out of the water, he was exceedingly thankful that George salvaged his lifestyle. This instant of conclusion at how reliant this other human being was, is if the change occurred in George to choose to care for the man. The book depicts kind and loving treatment towards Lennie. He is quite loved and cared for by simply George, and his best motives are always taken into account. Although what George does at the end from the books can be quite dark, especially since this is his best friend, it is actually quite kind of a deed. By simply shooting Lennie, George is definitely saving the retard by himself. Hes keeping Lennie from staying tortured or perhaps killed in an even worse way. As we find throughout the book, Lennie is very often the cause of trouble. Hes not able to live his existence to the fullest because of his mental disease, and because he does not understand his own strength. This individual does not understand many sociable norms around him, and he quite evidently does not understand the which means of gentle. Therefore , in the event he would be to continue living, he wouldve caused much more trouble and would usually live his life on the run. George views this many seems to pity him. This individual takes Lennie’s life as a method of aiding him away. He will save you Lennie from your troubles of ranch existence, and the difficulties of his own techniques. It reveals the good emotional bond between the two men, and how they constantly look out for the other person.

Towards Lennie’s high-class treatment, it had been common at that time for the mentally questioned to be placed in an asylum where they might be roughed up all their life. It was typical for patients to be associated with bed for days at a time, confined to cells, much like a penitentiary, and kept neglected or perhaps ignored. Since overcrowding occurred in asylums, “patients were sleeping in wood cribs stacked three sufferers high. Snow water bathrooms were once more used, along with distress machines and electroconvulsive therapy” (The History of Mental Illness). So , the treating these asylum patients was quite poor and had degraded quite a bit over the time since they first became prevalent. Hydrotherapy and insulin shock therapy were well-liked early inside the Great Depression, that they “were well-liked in the 1930s” (1930-1950: Fresh Therapy) Yet , “these strategies gave method to psychiatric therapy in the 1940s” (1930-1950: New Therapy) and “By the 1950s, doctors favored artificial fever remedy and electroshock therapy (1930-1950: New Therapy). During the time of this book’s environment was likewise the use of lobotomy. During the great Depression, “the notorious lobotomy was introduced in to American medical culture” (The History of Mental Illness). This action is a “medical procedure where neural paragraphs from the entrance of the mind are surgically separated from those in the back of the brain. The most popular result of this action was the sufferer forgetting their depressing or discouraging thoughts or tendencies” (The History of Mental Illness). This was in the beginning a delicate, time intensive process, until Walter M. Freeman was able to figure out how to execute a trans-orbital lobotomy, i. elizabeth. where they sick a great ice choose under the attention and vibrate it about until that they destroy the frontal lobe completely. Total treatment of the mentally unwell was quite brutal during the time, and very remote from how Lennie was treated.

Compared to how a mentally challenged were commonly treated during the time this book takes place, Lennie was quite adored and looked after. He led an almost regular life at a time when that was exceptional or nonexistent for people with his kind of incapacity. He received care once others like him were being punished for doing nothing wrong, just for being given birth to different.

Works Mentioned

1930-1950: Fresh Therapy. Quest for a Cure. Missouri Archives, the year 2003. Web. 17 May 2016.

Psychologically Challenged. TheFreeDictionary. com. N. p., d. d. Internet. 17 May 2016.

Steinbeck, Steve. Of Mice and Men. New York: Penguin, 1993. Print.

A history of Mental Illness. A brief history of Mental Illness. D. p., n. d. Web. 17 May possibly 2016.

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