The Acceptance Of Power In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Martin Luther King stated that “hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.” Both love and hatred played a role in John Steinbeck’s novel, but in the end cruelty and hatred brought George and Lennie’s friendship to a tragic ending. Steinbeck wrote Of Mice and Men during the Great Depression of 1930’s. He was a Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winning author. Steinbeck was once a manual laborer. Steinbeck was familiar with the time period and could connect with the feelings of the migrant workers. His writings were about social and economic concepts. This novel illustrates the culture of violence and cruelty of that time. Steinbeck 's characters show different types of inhumanity. Every character feels isolated and lonely, which causes some to attack those who are weaker than they are. Loneliness and the cruelty of others caused George and Lennie to stick together during many hard years, but the violence of their fellow workers overcame George’s good intentions to care for Lennie.

Carlson complains to Slim about Candy’s dog and suggests, "Whyn't you get Candy to shoot his old dog and give him one of the pups to raise up? I can smell that dog a mile away. Got no teeth, damn near blind, can't eat. Candy feeds him milk. He can't chew nothing else" (Steinbeck 35).

“Power is always dangerous. Power attracts the worst and corrupts the best.” This quotation, by author Edward Abbey, defines power as an incredibly controlling tool, which is a major theme in the novella, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. This story takes place on a small ranch in California in the 1930s during the Great Depression. Lennie and George, the two protagonists, are migrant workers who have left their old job and are now working at a ranch. Lennie is a huge, strong man but has the brain of a toddler. George is small, wiry man, and is almost Lennie’s opposite. As George and Lennie begin the strenuous work at the ranch in hopes of achieving the American Dream, they interact with various characters who also have hopes and dreams. As the plot unfolds, the strengths and weaknesses of each character come to the forefront. Each character uses his or her power differently throughout this novella, but everyone uses it negatively to control or injure others.

Landownership and Power In the novella Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck helps readers to understand that land ownership plays a major role in power, in that the more land a person owns, the more power they will believe they have, therefore changing their identity, making them feel more superior than others, mainly shown in the scene where Curley’s wife comes into Crooks' room and the men start standing up to the like no one has before. Steinbeck shows us this through many characters, including Candy, Lennie, Curley, Curley’s wife, the Boss, and Crooks. Candy automatically feels like he has more power over Curley’s wife just because he thinks he will soon have more land than her.

When his dog gets shot he does not have much to live for. He cannot work with the other men and now has lost his one friend in the world. After everyone left the barn and a gunshot was heard in the distance Candy turns to George and says "You seen what they done to my dog tonight? They says he wasn't no good to himself nor nobody else. When they can me here I wisht somebody'd shoot me...

The first suggestion that the dog is going to be shot comes in chapter two, when Carlson and Slim are discussing the litter of puppies and Carlson suggests that they get Candy to shoot his dog. “Why’n’t you get Candy to shoot his old dog and give him a new one to raise up” (). From this quote, it can be inferred that something will happen to Lennie. When the dog is actually shot, by Carlson, Candy later regrets not doing it himself, confessing to George, “I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog”.

The novel Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck shows how power and control is used in the majority of the novel. Through the use of metaphor, simile, and diction, Steinbeck evaluates the theme of power and control. Steinbeck’s use for the strategies is to appeal to the reader’s sense of pathos. Pathos is shown through the use of diction and metaphors used in the book. The  novel takes place in Southern California where George and Lennie try to find a way to make their dreams come true. Lennie a character who is strong and tall has a mental problem where he can’t think as fast as normal people, so his friend George is there to take care of him and tell him what to do when Lennie can’t make the choices. In Of Mice and Men by

If you was to take him out and shoot him right in the back of the head-” he leaned over and pointed, “-right there, why he’d never know what hit him. ””(44). As seen in this quote Carlson says that Candy should just shoot his dog to end his suffering. In the end, Carlson is the one to shoot Candy's dog and bury him. This is definitely an act of euthanasia.

They were seen as useless and as extra mouths to feed. Candy faces the endless fear that the boss will fire him once he loses his worth on the farm. Candy’s fears are portrayed when Carlson shoots his old dog because the dog is too old to be of use. He tells Lennie

Candy shows that he also has a dream to leave the ranch. “Candy said miserably. “You seen what they done to my dog tonight? They says he wasn’t good to himself nor nobody else… I wisht somebody’d shoot me. But they won’t do nothing like that.

George prohibits Lennie from petting mice, making Lennie sad. While Lennie killing mice is a bad thing, Carlson killing Candy’s dog is actually isn’t. Carlson shoots Candy’s beloved dog to stop it from enduring any more suffering. Carlson recognizes the love that Candy feels for his dog, and lets Candy know that the way he would shoot him: “‘...He wouldn’t feel nothing...

In Lord of the Flies, when Piggy’s specs are stolen, he is no longer useful, and the boys kill him. In Of Mice and Men, Candy’s dog has also outgrown his usefulness. This causes Carlson to strongly suggest that Candy should shoot him. “You wouldn’t think it to look at him

Chapter Five Constructed Response John Steinbeck’s novel “Of Mice and Men” was inspired by Robert Burn ’s poem “To a Mouse.” This means his novel has a similar meaning to Burn’s poem: animals have no dreams, but still experience melancholic feelings along with the human dreamers. The title “Of Mice and Men” is also a quote straight out of “To a Mouse.”

When Carlson kills Candy’s dog is a reason. ”Right in the back of the head. He wouldn’t even quiver.” He tells George where to shoot something and make it painless. Next, Candy says he should’ve shot his dog.

Candy is an old man who is confined by his age and cannot do any real work. He cannot leave the farm because he does not have enough money to survive on his own. Steinbeck described Candy by writing, “Old Candy, the swamper, came in and went to his bunk, and behind him struggled his old dog,” (Page 43). The only thing that kept Candy company was his dog. His dog was too old to be any use, just like Candy himself, so he was shot by Carlson.