Power In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Curley is smaller man and a recently wed man to an attractive young lady not to mention the son to The Boss in “Of Mice and Men” by Joseph Steinbeck. In an attempt to cover up his insecurity with both he makes a cover comprised of his bravado and aggressive nature as seen in the book. This is quite clear as he has an overwhelming drive to prove he is better than others both in status and strength.

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

Curley is a powerful, egotistical, arrogant, and cocky character; he wants everybody to respect him, but he does not respect back other people around him. For example, when Curley sees George and Lennie for the first time, “he glanced coldly… his hands closed into fists…his glance was at once calculating and pugnacious” (25) Here, we know if Curley is an arrogant character, he acts haughty and conceited when he talks to George and Lennie. Also, at this point, Curley tries to gain respect from George and Lennie but he gains respect in a bad way; he makes George and Lennie scared and frightened to him. Moreover, he is an authority figure in the ranch, and a powerful person in the ranch because he is the boss’s son. As a result, he wants other

In the fight scene Lennie shows that he has a lot a physical power and strength. John Steinbeck uses alliteration in the description where Lennie lets go of his hold ‘he crouched cowering against the wall. He ‘crouched cowering’ is a brilliant use of alliteration because it adds suspense to the scene they were in and it emphasis the point that he is cowardly and abuses his financial power over the men and tries to use them but fails. These words makes Curley look like the ‘bad guy’and reminds us of how over confident he was the first time that George and Lennie met him.

In the novel, Of mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Curley is a rude, quick-tempered, and self-centered man which shows how he is disliked by the people on the ranch. Curley is a rude person which Steinbeck uses to show how Curley is disliked. For example, when George and lennie just got hired, Curley almost immediately starts to be rude to them. " ' By Christ, he's gotta talk when he's spoke to. well what the hell you gettin into it for.

Curley often only thinks about him and thinks everything is about him causing him to get offended easily. Curley is always picking fights due to him being self conscious of his height and size, thinking that's how he can prove himself as man. For example, When Curley comes in the house to see that his wife is dead, he know lennie killed her he threatens lennie and says “I'm gonna get him, I'm going for my shotgun. Ill shoot him in the guts” (96). Curley didn't know how to take care of the situation

In Of Mice And Men Curley's wife is the most hopeless and misserable character in the story. She has no future as she is stuck with her former husband (Curley) who hates her leaving his sight, she has no friends as she is the only woman on the ranch and Curley will not allow her socializ with the men because he feels that they would steel her, and she has no respect from anyone on the ranch because why should they; She gets the men in trouble just by looking at them because well lets face it shes made out to be a "whore" who is stunningly beautiful, why wouldnt you look; she doesn't even withhold a name (which isnt even mentioned within the story) She is just known as Curleys wife because she is his possesion, his property. I truly feel frustrated

The idea of gaining power is an important aspect for both characters and people in reality. The pursuit of power can be the fuel for dreams, goals, and development in both characters and real people. This idea is present throughout the novel Of Mice and Men and plays an important role in the development of the characters. In the book ,written by John Steinbeck, two migrant workers travel to a ranch in California in hopes of getting money to carry out their dream, and at the ranch many people they see have hopes of asserting their dominance on people they view as inferior, but their actual social value makes these attempts pointless. Even though many people strive to assert power and control in their lives, their circumstances often make that

Curley is described as “a lightweight and handy person” (Steinbeck 26). He receives his power from his dad due to his dad owning the ranch, which means he would not be in trouble whatever he does. Instead, if any of the workers disrespects him, he could then fire them within a couple of second which gives him power over the people. Curley uses his power to act as a powerful man, but this is lousy since he treats his dad’s workers if they were trash. This power actually hurts him more than it helps him. For example, he tried to act tough when Lennie was just smiling at the fact that he had a glove full of lotion. Curley tells Lennie,”Come on, ya big bastard. Get up on your feet. No son-of-a-bitch is gonna laugh at me. I’ll show ya who’s yella”(Steinbeck 62). This shows that Curley tries to prove his dominance to large people. He did this to Lennie and receives a broken hand back from him. Due to him trying to act tough in front of people larger and stronger than him, it hurts him

(73). Even though Curley’s wife is not always clear about her feelings doesn’t mean she doesn’t have them. Curley’s wife is an overlooked character, but that doesn’t take away her importance in the story. She should not be slut shamed based on opinions of the big egoed

”(87) The men feel “like he’s [getting] worse lately”(27) and “Curley ain’t givin’ nobody a chance”(27). He is also “picking scraps with guys”(26) and impolite to them saying things like “answer when you’re spoke to.”(26) Curley has a problem with Lennie because Curley “hates big guys”(26) and he tries “showin off”(27) so “he

Crooks was segregated from the rest of the men, and wasn’t allowed in the bunkhouse because he was African-American. Instead, he lived in the stable with all the horses. Even though Crooks was a male, he never got as much rights or respect as he deserved simply because of his race. Even Curley’s wife had more power than Crooks. She confirms so when she tells Crooks, “You know what I can do to you if you open your trap?... Well you keep your place then nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny” (80). This showing how little power Crooks had that even Curley’s wife can easily overpower him even though she’s a women. Crooks being African-American is what makes him a so called “weak” member of society, and his unfair isolation results in his hatred for the rest of the

Plip-plop, plip-plop, the countless number of tears escaping Curley’s senses- streaming down his crimson cheekbones prudently. Manifestly, this was a signal for his masked feminism and true colours. Recalling his last memory, last kiss, with his one love, pearl-shaped beads grew from his wide , luminous eyes. Gazing through the black clothes and white waxy faces, he reminisced his hatred for the man that obtained control over the expiration of his wife: but soon, like an enervated kid, he withdrew.

During this time period women were treated like an object or property by men. Women were taught household skills and were employed as house keeping aids to families in need of help. Few women ever found positions in business. Curley’s wife is treated like an object by her husband Curley mentally and maybe even physically beatdown by him. She was portrayed as a “tart’ or a whore throughout the story until the end when her hardships, struggles, and her death occur. We soon learn that she just wanted a friend and was lonely. Her struggles and hardships are the reason she brings death upon herself. Curley’s wife represents the women of this time perfectly considering what she went through in her short life. Being lonely and treated like an object by a man resulted in her neck being snapped and her life cut very

Curley’s wife has no future. Since she is married to Curley, she can do pretty much nothing. She confesses, “I tell ya I could have went with shows. (78) and “ he said he was going to put me in the movies (88)” as a dream of what she could have done if she didn’t