The idea of ​​suppression on weak people or characters can be seen in many literary works. Suppression is the act of eliminating by or as if by authority or of abolishing. One literary work in which this can be seen is the short story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. There are many characters considered weak in the story. Some of whom are weak physically, some mentally and one because of their gender. These weak characters are Lennie, Crooks, Candy, and Curley's wife. Through these characters it is easy to see that it is human nature for the strong to suppress the weak. One character who is seen as weak in the story is Lennie. He is very limited mentally and the other characters take advantage of this. This can be seen by how George used to play pranks on Lennie and how Lennie never played pranks on him. You can see this when George says, “I had a lot of fun with him. She played pranks on him because he was too stupid to take care of himself. But he was too stupid to even know that they had played a prank on him. I had fun. He made me look damn smart next to him. Because he would do whatever the damn thing I told him. If I told him to walk up a cliff, he would fall'” (Steinbeck 40). This shows that the strong naturally suppress the weak because even though George cares for Lennie as if he were a brother, he would risk Lennie's life for a laugh. Another example of Lennie being put down is when Curley beats him. Since Lennie is such a nice person to everyone, he doesn't fight Curley and lets Curley beat him. Steinbeck writes “Lennie looked at George helplessly, then stood up and tried to retreat. Curley was poised and poised. He hit Lennie with his left hand, then hit him in the nose with his right... in the middle of a piece of paper... and flattened himself against the wall. "Yes, ma'am." “Well, then keep your place, nigga. I could hang you from a tree so easily it wouldn't even be funny'” (Steinbeck 80-81). This can be seen as a crackdown because Curley's wife is threatening Crooks because he is an African American. This can be seen as human nature because for hundreds of years in the past African Americans have always been inferior to whites. Therefore this example of repression can be considered part of human nature due to the way it shows the segregation between whites and African Americans. This is how the character Crooks is suppressed and the way he is suppressed shows that it is human nature for the strong to suppress the weak. As previously mentioned, Lennie and Crooks are not the only weak characters in the story. Works Cited Steinbeck, John. Of mice and men. New York: Penguin, 1993. Print.