In John Steinbeck's novel of Mice and Men, he writes about the injustices and inequalities in the ranch hand society during the Great Depression. Through name calling, racial slurs, and the ranch hands general intolerance for Lennie and his mental condition Steinbeck exposes how being different can sometimes lead to tragedy.
In of Mice and Men, the character Lennie is unquestionably different. To call Lennie "retarded" would be politically incorrect. He has what is call autism, a mental disorder that causes difficulties in verbal and non-verbal communication, social interactions, and leisure or play activities. The most apparent thing about Lennie's disorder is his obsession with rabbits. "An live off the fatta the lan, Lennie shouted. An" have rabbits. Go on George! Tell about what we"re gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages . . . Go on George . . . how can I get to tend the rabbits" (14; ch.1). Not only for Lennie do rabbits seem to be the primary symbol of his hopes and dreams; But when Lennie gets scared and unintentionally takes an innocent life, he goes to hide knowing that even though what he did was an accident those on the ranch will still want to harshly punish him. The rabbit then becomes a symbol of his guilty conscience, hallucinating as if it is speaking to him. "You ain't worth a greased jack-pin to ram you into hell. Christ knows George done every'thing he could to jack you outa the sewer, but it don't do no good. If you think George gonna let you tend rabbits, you"re even crazier"n usual. He ain't. He's gonna beat the hell outa you with a stick, that what hes gonna do." (102; ch. 6).
Though this rabbit is tremendously malicious and, caustic Lennie still shows his faith in George, insisting to the rabbit that George would never do something like that to him. "He ain't neither. George won't do nothing like that . . . He won't Lennie cried frantically.
