Power Struggle In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

One night when George goes out with the other men he leaves Lennie alone to play with his pup when he wanders into Crook’s room. Even though the majority of the time Crooks plays mind games with Lennie he ends up expressing his dream of equality. At this time period black people are still heavily discriminated against which effects how others treat him and how he accepts others. "'Cause I'm black. They play cards in there, but I can't play because I'm black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all of you stink to me." (Steinbeck ___). Even though Crooks is just like all the other men on the farm he is still viewed in a negative way because of his skin colour. Afterwards, Crooks begins to describe his child hood discrimination does not exist and giving him a sense of

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.

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.

Human’s desire is to control and dominate others through the use of power. However, the shifts and the notions of power can change as new people gain control. Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men illustrates the transient nature of power through the characters desire to control and dominate others.

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

In the novella, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the diverse set of characters individually handle oppression on a daily basis. For these characters, racist, sexist and degrading remarks are normal for the time period (early 1900’s). The story is about two men, Lennie and George, trying to find work in a troubling economic time while also trying to overcome Lennie’s mental handicap. They also meet other people that have to overcome their own “setbacks”. The author shows oppression of the characters through their effect on others, actions, and their dialogue.

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

Crooks seems powerless because the other workers on the ranch isolate him as a result of his race. In the novella, Crooks has his own living space and bedroom that is separated from the others; he rarely lets anyone come into his room. One day, Lennie, an outsider with a mental disability enters his room and starts to talk with Crooks. “‘Why ain’t you wanted?’ Lennie asked. ‘Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink’” (Steinbeck 68). Crooks knows that because he is

Of Mice and Men use conflict to show external conflict between Curley and Lennie. Ever since George and Lennie arrived at the ranch Curley had a problem with Lennie. Curley doesn't like big guys and since Lennie is very big man, with mental disabilities. Soon in the story Curley get mad at Lennie and soon start a fight; “‘Get him Lennie’.... Curley’s fist was swinging when Lennie reached for it … and his closed fist lost in Lennie's big hand”(Steinbeck 63).There is man vs man conflict between Curley and Lennie. During the story Lennie would never try to hurt anyone, but when Curley tries to swing at him it get a little out of hand. Soon George gives order Lennie to hit him and so he does. Since Lennie is a big man he crushes Curley’s hand

John Steinbeck’s uses many literary techniques to explore the dichotomy between both power and powerlessness in the novel “Of Mice and Men”. Steinbeck presents different branches of power in the novel such as physical, social, hierarchy, American dream and sexual, with each having their own sense of power. These branches are represent through the characters, Lennie, Crooks, Slim, George and Curely’s wife, are used to show the universal element of power.

“Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts.” This quote, once said by E. B. White, excellently states what the novel, Of Mice and Men, is trying to clearly state. Of Mice and Men is a profound novel that has many things to teach society. This novel, written by John Steinbeck, reflects many flaws in the world today. It mirrors many of the characteristics that every human possesses. Prejudice is still a common way of thinking in today’s society, and to the people who feel victimized, it can be hard to overcome. Curley’s wife, Lennie, and Crooks all deal with prejudice against themselves different ways.

In a competitive society, inferiority can be the death of an average person who is put up against someone with considerable power. To exaggerate the intentional character pairings in his novel, John Steinbeck, the author of Of Mice and Men, deliberately included this idea of power in many different scenarios throughout the text. From legitimate character confrontations to presumably negligible deaths of “minor” personalities, Steinbeck consistently attempts to convey that in a competitive society, the strong will exploit the weak.

The theme of power is explored throughout this novel. Steinbeck explores power in many different forms. The first type that is explored is intellectual power. In the story, Lennie is physically strong and would therefore represent someone of power, however the only power Lennie possesses is physical. Because of his mental handicap and his child like way of perceiving the world, he is powerless against his urges and the forces that overwhelm him. For example, Lennie knows what it takes to be good but lacks the ability to understand and avoid the dangers that he faces. So in turn he must rely on George to protect him. George also is powerless because he is face with the danger of Curley's wife