Social Class And Power 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.

Achieving “The American Dream” is a great desire for all but rarely does it ever come true (website). Discrimination is a major theme in Of Mice and Men. Most of the characters are discriminated against for various reasons. Another major theme is male friendship. Friendships are symbiotic relationships, where people share their talents and qualities to help each other through life (website). An important additional theme is loneliness and companionship. Most of the characters are lonely for the reason of they are working on a ranch with no companionship. Steinbeck illustrates how the characters respond to discrimination, male friendship, as well as loneliness and companionship.

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.

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.

The novel Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck is set in America in the 1930’s and it describes the lives of migrant farmers as they go from farm to farm looking for jobs. It also shows the loneliness of the characters and the hard work that they put in. The main characters of the book are Lennie, a man-child, and George, a small man but very powerful character that takes care of Lennie in their journey. Also when they get to the farm they meet the bosses wife who is very lonely and looks for company in the workers. Steinbeck uses characterization to bring his characters to life using various techniques.

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 Of mice and men, John Steinbeck uses symbolism, foreshadowing, and a sympathetic tone to demonstrate the world of limited sources, poverty, human intolerance, limiting social roles, wealth, and freedom.

You can judge a society by its treatment of the old, the weak, the helpless and the needy. Through the narrative conventions of foreshadowing and characterisation, John Steinbeck, in his novel Of Mice And Men, published in 1937, is able to effectively reveal the imperfections of America’s capitalist

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

“Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty,” said Mother Teresa. Humanity has struggled against being left alone and being lonely for a long time. As a result, humans formed a society where they could be together. On the other hand, there are still people who are left out of the society. In other words, there are still people out there who are marginalized, not accepted fairly to the society. John Steinbeck shows the marginalized people’s lives in his novel, Of Mice and Men. In his novel, characters such as Lennie, George, Candy, Curley’s wife, Crooks, and even the ranch workers, are marginalized from the society. Ranch workers like George, Candy, and Lennie have nowhere to go, and they do not have anybody to care for them. Especially for Lennie, he is mentally challenged, too. Crooks, being the colored man, suffers from discrimination. Curley’s wife is constantly surrounded with loneliness. In Of Mice and Men, marginalized people who are neglected from the society, create a society of their own; they share their dreams and help each other out although they are all different from each other.

John Steinbeck, an American novelist, is well-known for his familiar themes of depression and loneliness. He uses these themes throughout a majority of his novels. These themes come from his childhood and growing up during the stock market crash. A reader can see his depiction of his childhood era. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck shows the prominent themes of loneliness, the need for relationships, and the loss of dreams in the 1930s through the novels’ character.

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.

John Steinbeck’s book Of Mice and Men is an extraordinary novel with unique characteristics. The novel is about an uncommon friendship between two extremely different individuals who are living and working together. This story belong to the genres tragic realistic fiction, historical fiction and drama. The linking between the novel and The Great Depression emphasizes throughout the story, which makes the novel very realistic and down to earth. The author touches on several themes such as: the unreachable American dream, the economic injustices, loneliness, friendship and people’s propensity for cruelty. In this book review, we will get into a deeper understanding of what the actual story means.

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