Prejudice, a Limitation: Part 2

John Malkovich as Lennie Small in the 1992 movie version of Of Mice and Men. Lennie looks deep in thought.

  The mentally retarded society has been grouped and mistreated poorly through the misconceptions of prejudice. In fact, throughout history, those who are mentally retarded have been labelled such words carrying negative connotations like, stupid, feeble minded, defective and incompetent, to name a few (Patton and Jones 1994, pg. 60). These labels, once again, have been based on the retarded being seen as different due to the fact that their intellectual capabilities are not similar to the average individual. In turn these views on the mentally retarded carry much ramification. Social discrimination against handicapped persons will affect that individual- studies have shown that the self-perception of a handicapped child, such as one with a mental disability, are a reflection of reactions to social discrimination (Roeher, 1979).  

     Such prejudicial activities and their ramifications are seen through Lennie's relationship with the judgemental ranch hands. Throughout the story Lennie is constantly noted to be "stupid" by other characters, and on some occasions his response to this activity is of shock. On page 78, Curley's wife refers to Lennie as a "dum-dum," to which he reacts in a shocked manner: "Lennie watched her, his mouth half open." Based on this evidence, one can conclude that direct prejudicial activities towards a mentally retarded person negatively limits their self-perception. Prejudicial attitudes limit the luxuries of life for a mentally retarded individual, specifically the satisfaction of a great self-esteem which is limited to hurtful words, as seen with Lennie Small.