410024

When Nature and Women Cry for Mercy: John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men from an Ecofeminist Lens

Article

Last updated: 08 Feb 2025

Subjects

-

Tags

اللغات الأجنبية

Abstract

    Despite the prevalence of ecofeminist undercurrents in Of Mice and Men, relatively few critics have sought to trace this aspect. Indeed, the novella does not explicitly address ecofeminism. Nevertheless, an in-depth analysis of it shows that certain elements invite an ecofeminist interpretation. The narrative tackles, among other things, some issues with ecofeminist dimensions, such as women's inequality, the rights of minorities, animal rights, and land degradation. The community depicted in the narrative is a patriarchal society, which is driven by its tendency against dualistic thinking, which imposes barriers between things seeming opposites, such as male/female, civilization/nature, and human/animal. Such dualism or binary opposition fosters the idea that one is the master and the second is the servile “Other." Curley's unnamed wife is the only female character in the novella, which signifies how women were defined by their relationship with men rather than as independent individuals. Another character is Crooks, the stable black man who is always subjected to entrenched racism and prejudice due to his color. As for the weak and vulnerable, they are also marginalized and shunned in the patriarchal system depicted in the book. Despite its wonder and awe, nature is depicted as harsh and unforgiving toward humans' exploitative stances.

DOI

10.21608/jwadi.2025.410024

Keywords

Animal rights, ecofeminism, nature, Of Mice and Men, patriarchy

Authors

First Name

Sayed

Last Name

Youssef

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Imam Mohammad ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Email

smyahmed@imamu.edu.sa

City

-

Orcid

0009-0001-4177-5967

Volume

45

Article Issue

45

Related Issue

53575

Issue Date

2025-01-01

Receive Date

2025-02-04

Publish Date

2025-01-01

Page Start

103

Page End

122

Print ISSN

2536-9555

Online ISSN

2682-4582

Link

https://jwadi.journals.ekb.eg/article_410024.html

Detail API

http://journals.ekb.eg?_action=service&article_code=410024

Order

410,024

Type

المقالة الأصلية

Type Code

1,243

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

مجلة وادي النيل للدراسات والبحوث الإنسانية والاجتماعية والتربويه

Publication Link

https://jwadi.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

When Nature and Women Cry for Mercy: John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men from an Ecofeminist Lens

Details

Type

Article

Created At

08 Feb 2025