Explore the Different Ways Power Is Presented in Steinbeck’s ‘of Mice and Men’

In Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, power struggles are an evident topic in social groups, racial groups and between individuals. Lennie struggles against his ill-equipped mind’s way of viewing the world, Crooks faces discrimination because of the colour of his skin, and three separate people all experience feelings of loneliness and isolation.

Although childlike, this sentence shows that Lennie’s mind is able to think of plans. How would he keep the mouse? By attempting to deceive George. Eventually, George’s patience wears thin and he exclaims “Give it here!” shouting at Lennie like a parent.

History is full of examples of how power affects people's behaviors towards others. Well known examples in history include Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler. Kim Jong-Il, Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein are more recent examples of the negative abuse of power. In the novella Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, a common theme throughout the story is the misuse of power. Steinbeck uses the characters Curley’s wife and Crooks to teach the reader that people who possess less power are treated in a more demeaning fashion, but also treat others the same way in search of gaining power.

In the novella Of Mice and Men, the author Steinbeck expresses how power tangles around main characters. Both power and powerless are able to create positive and negative outcomes. There are Lennie Small and George Milton who show no restraint when it comes to power, Curley who suffers because of his greediness, and Slim who is in much better circumstance than all others due to his wisdom to withstand himself. Steinbeck demonstrates how those who do not realize they have to restrain themselves towards power above their ability will be more destructive than those who do.

The novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck emphasizes the division in social classes and social structure based on power. The novel and its themes are based around the characters’ interactions and decisions. Their motivations come directly from other characters, and the social construct on the ranch that controls the characters within the novel. Each character has their own journey of giving into the powers that control their society and lives which leads to each of their own inescapable demises.

Steinbeck’s Idea on how people can have a chance at the brief nature of power before it shifts can be summed up into the quote:

Throughout an individual’s life, one is bound to encounter domination against others. There are different ways to show power; physically, economically, intellectually, etc. However, power can be used positively or negatively. In the novel, Of Mice and Men, Lennie has the capability to use his strength to gain power. Next, Curley’s wife uses her gender to control men and takes advantage of her role as her husband’s wife to make the workers fear to lose their job. Finally, Curley has the advantage to use his father’s status on the ranch to make himself seem “untouchable”. Lennie, Curley’s wife, and Curley all have power, but when he or she gets directly or indirectly belittled, the character tends to use their own power to disempower others.

Power is defined as “the possession of control or command over others; authority...” (Dictionary.com), and all people have power, whether they notice it or not. Though some employ their power for respectable reasons, often times power is not used in honorable ways. The matter of abuse of authority is prevalent in the story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Steinbeck illustrates that those who have power abuse it exceedingly often, as shown by Curley attacking countless others, including Lennie, a mentally disabled man, Curley’s wife mistreating the men of the ranch, and Curley’s wife making demeaning comments about Crooks, the African American stable buck.

In the novella Of Mice and Men, the author John Steinbeck argues that earned power is more respected than inherited power. Throughout the story, a power hierarchy is established among the characters. The top of the hierarchy is mostly made up of characters with inherited power, like Curley. Curley is the boss’s son, and gets his power because his father owns the ranch: “Don’t tell Curley I said none of this. He’d slough me. He just don’t give a dam. Won’t ever get canned ‘cause his old man’s the boss” (27). Since Curley has direct power from the most important figure on the ranch, he has the ability to boss around the workers with no consequences. He takes advantage of this power, and the workers cannot retaliate otherwise, they will get

Power is usually measured through physical power and mental power. Several different kinds of power appear in the book, and Steinbeck shows clearly how each of them carries with it a heavy responsibility,Though not every character is able to measure up to this with success powers. By how the characters act and how they treat each other shows what powers they have.

The Boss have power because of money he own the ranch and he Curley dad. Curley have power to talk back to people and fight with them because of his dad.Lennie have a different kind of power. Like physical and strength wise but he also have less power in his

The American Dream is based off of the Declaration of the Independence. The Document presented the idea of “pursuit of happiness.” This promotes the idea of Lennie and George's dream of a perfect farm for them in the future. This means that through hard work and dedication, they will eventually find happiness for the both of them. For Lennie, this happiness comes from tending to the animals. For george, it comes from creating an advanced idea of a farm that he had pictured since he was a kid and the thought of being able to live strictly off the farms produce and land, away from society.

Although power should be used for the greater good, in the tragic novel Of Mice and Men death occurs because of the misuse of power for selfish reasons. During the Great Depression in the 1990’s women did not have any type of power over others. This is demonstrated in the book when Curley’s wife’s name is not mentioned. Even though she does not have power over the white ranchers, she does have power over blacks. She uses it to her advantage to threaten Crooks so he gets out of the way of her doings. This selfishness is exposed when she says, “Well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny”(79). If for some reason Crooks does something to get her mad then he would get fired or worse. This

In Of Mice and Men characters such as Curley’s wife and Curley abuse their power over characters such as Crooks or Lennie, who face oppression, due to their racial identity or status. For example, Curley’s Wife abuses her power over Crooks. Curley’s wife says to Crooks, “You know what I could do to you if you open your trap? I could get you strung up on a tree so easily it ain’t even funny”. Curley’s wife is abusing her power over Crooks because, she is white, and Crooks is black. She already has racial power over him, so she can threaten to kill Crooks after he talks to her in a rude way, yet Crooks cannot threaten to kill her because Curley’s wife has more power over him. Another example of a character abusing their power is Curley. After

Alice Walker, an American novelist, once stated that “the most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” In current society, power is everywhere, and everyone has at least has some control, no matter how ineffective they might feel. In the novella “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, the concept of power is represented on a ranch in the 1930’s. On the ranch, there is a group of outsiders- people who do not fit in- that consists of Crooks, a black stable buck, Curley’s wife, who is married to the powerful Curley, Lennie, a worker with a mental disability, and Candy, and old swamper. These outsiders are isolated and feel powerless compared to the rest of society. However, within this group of outsiders, power structures still exist and everyone has power in one way or another. Steinbeck, through the story of Crooks and Curley’s wife, teaches that no matter how powerless someone seems, they may still wield power over others.