Power Hierarchy In John 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.

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.

In the story Of Mice and Men, it follows a disabled man and his crafty caretaker looking for work on a farm. The few characters that are shown in the book possess very diverse personalities that fit into different archetypes, many of them challenge the stereotypes that surrounded them during the early twentieth century. Archetypes are characteristics that are commonly seen in literature and real life. In the book Of Mice and Men there are seven distinct archetypes that all have different characteristics in them. One thing that all the characters have in common, though, is loneliness. Throughout the book the theme of loneliness is constantly there, and one of the loneliest characters is Crooks. Crooks fits the archetype of an outcast

Power is presented through characters by using a long description of what the character is like, describing their appearance, positive points and negative points. The power of the character is presented by demonstrating their dominance or submissiveness over another character through their actions, speech and the way they behave around them, and if they change their behaviour around other people, for example Curley acts as if he’s the best in the world at everything around Lennie because he tries to beat him up but he doesn’t act that way towards Slim, who is more dominant and powerful than him in terms of dominance, but not in terms of ranch hierarchy.

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.

Lennie Smalls is a very immature, simple, strong and caring guy. Since he has a mental disability he does not know his own strength. He can sometimes man handle animals or people because to him he does not see anything wrong with it. The archetype I am giving Lennie is innocent. Archetypes are characteristics of easy or well-known traits from children’s literature, pop culture, or even everyday life, they help the readers connect with the characters quickly and accurately. Lennie’s archetype is innocent because he is always so caring to others. He is also taken advantage of a lot. Lennie is always so positive even when the hardest situations are thrown at him. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men novel Lennie Smalls archetype is portrayed

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.

The long, hard war of human equality in society, has been a war since the beginning of civilization. The Great Depression, a tragic time in America’s history, reflects American determination, but also social inequality. In the fiction novella, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses symbolism and characterization to address ableism and sexism in society. Steinbeck addresses these flaws in society in an attempt to ultimately bring awareness these riffs before society falls.

People got power because they got money. People that don’t got no money have less power.in John Steinbeck Of Mice and Men we also see people with different level of power. In the novel Curley and the Boss and Lennie all have different source of power. In mice and man the the character is the boss he deals with a lot of money. The money help the boss get workers to work for him without the money the worker will leave him.

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

How Steinbeck Uses Two of His Characters to Explore the Role of Power in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

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.