Have you ever thought about what causes people to be cruel to others? There are many things to make other people mad or make them not like them like their race, nationality, color, and even how they talk and dress. The book "Of Mice and Men" tells a story about two men; George and Lennie who travel together. There wonders reach to a ranch were they start working to get money. Both dream about owning an acre of land and a shack they can call their own. But then face challenges, as things get difficult at the ranch. Cruelty is among these challenges. This kind of cruelty includes being racist, judging by appearance and their actions, but what individuals do not realize is that by making a fool out of themselves, especially if people are criticizing other people they don't know. If you are cruel to others first think about what you are doing.
George Street, Redfern
George Street, Sydney
Of Mice and MenCruelty is all around the world, there is not one person whos never been cruel. Without even noticing you can be cruel to somebody, like being racist. In this book almost everybody is racist to Crooks because he is black. To him, it must be really awkward being there because he is the only black guy in the ranch. Even though he has his own room, he is very lonely. The guy's do not let him go inside their cabinet. Because of this he dislikes everybody in the ranch. Curly's wife said "Well, you keep your place then, nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain't even funny". If Crooks was not black then Curly's wife would have never ever said that. She also told them "An what am I doin'? Standing here talkin' to a bunch of bindle stiffs, a nigger an' a dum-dum and a lousy ol' sheep, an' likin' it because they ain't nobody else". By making that comment, she is trying to show them that she is better than all of them because they have to work and live and eat in a lousy place. That is cruel because she has no right to say that because her husband does the same and she is living in the same conditions. Curley's wife is just jealous because they have friends and she does not. Having money is also a reason why people are also cruel. Like Curley and his wife act like they have all the authority of all the others because they are the ones who have the money. Curley is mean to George and Lennie and he wants to show them who is in charge by saying things like " Well, nex' time you answer when your spoke to". By saying this he meant I'm in charge of you, and you better do what I tell you to do if you want to get paid. All of this includes being cruel but because these persons act like this they are not happy in life.
Cruelty has also had to do with a person's appearance, by judging them on how they look. This book explains how the characters are, like Lennie is big, George is small, Candy only has one hand, Crook has a crippled back, Curly has high-heeled boots and Curley's wife always were dresses. There are a lot of details on how the characters are. For example, Candy is talking to George about Crooks and he says "You see the stable buck's a nigger. Got a crooked back where a horse kicked him. The boss gives him hell when he's mad. But the stable buck don't give a damn about that. He reads a lot. Got books in his room". Candy is being cruel to Crooks because he is talking to George about him but the first thing he says is that he's black. Candy is being cruel to Crooks just because he is black and has a crippled back, even though he did compliment Crooks he was still being cruel. Another example of Cruelty is Curly. When Curly met George and Lennie he put most of his attention to Lennie because his big. Curly was asking Lennie questions but George answered so Curly said "An' you won't let the big guy talk, is that it?" Curly is being really cruel to Lennie just because he's big and Curley's not. That is not fair because he doesn't even know Lennie, and he is mean to him the first time they meet each other. Like George when he was talking to the boss the first time. Lennie can't answer all the boss's questions because George told him not to, then George say's " Got kicked in the head by a horse when he was a kid. He's awright. Just ain't bright". George is being cruel because he made Lennie look very stupid, even though he is but he is not supposed to say that. It would offend me if someone said that about me, especially if I was in front. Even though George said that to get the job, it was not the right thing to say, just because someone might be stupid you would never know if he/she is the smartest person. As you can see many people judge or made comments about how the person's appearance is. Like they say "Don't judge a book by the cover".
As you can see cruelty is among everything. Cruelty is the result of using racism, judgments, physical appearance, and actions as a form of discrimination. Wherever you go you'll see cruelty happening in many ways. Just because someone is cruel to you doesn't mean you have to do the same. So what really causes people to be cruel to others? Nobody really knows, because actions just take place.
Curly Howard
Curly at home with two of his many canine friends.
Cruel (song)