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

War. What starts a war? The misuse of power. In the realistic fiction novella Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, there are many different ways to show power. The men encounter many minor conflicts because of issues with power. In John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, he explores some of the different types of power through power in strength, wealth/social class, and knowledge.

In 1937 in the midst of The Great Depression, John Steinback published ‘Of Mice and Men’. This story introduced two characters by the name of George and Lennie. The two friends travel across California looking for work. In the book, the author portrays Lennie a huge, strong, and slow learning man. With the authors indirect characterization about Lennie, some critics infer that Lennie is forgetful and never intends to hurt anyone. This contributes to the theme because even though Lennie is different than most people, he is still capable of being friends with “normal” people. For example, he is still good friends with George despite their differences.

“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.

“listen, nigger,” she said. “you know what I can do to you if you open your trap?” (pg.80). This shows how the word “nigger” is used to control a black person. In the book of Mice and Men the word “nigger” is used quite often but towards crooks, since he is the only black person in the book. He goes through a lot, he gets treated poorly and he also has a hurt back and he still has to work. His life is different from white people. Power is used to control crooks bad about himself. He often feels isolated, depressed, and controlled at times. there are two characters that interact with Crooks. Curley’s wife and Lennie. Lennie is a very strong man and he has a mental disability, and Curley’s wife is the only women on the ranch

Unfortunately in today's society, elderly people are mistreated along with handicapped people seen as unfit and useless. In Steinbeck's novel, they show a great deal of unfairness to both humans and animals when they are no longer useful or productive to society. Although, older generations helped raise us, in society we generally do not take care of them. Animals are put down, or killed when they no longer have a purpose to their owner. Also, in the novel handicaps are looked down on because they take time to care for and are not seen as good workers. Because people or animals no longer provide a “use” for their family or owners, they are mistreated. However, they have helped and contributed to their families in every way they could, so to mistreat them later in their life is wrong and unfair.

In the novel “Of Mice and Men” the theme of social injustice is presented by John Steinbeck through the characters of Lennie, Curley’s wife, and Crooks. By examining the theme of social injustice one can be taught that treating someone based on their mental capability, gender, or race is wrong. Rather treat them base on the person they are on the

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.

Lennie cannot change his mental disability nor can Crooks change his race, but due to these inalterable characteristics, Lennie hurts others unintentionally, and Crooks is hurt by others. “Naturalism does not deal primarily with individuals in themselves, but rather with social groups, settings, or movements…”( ), which relates to the story, because Lennie’s actions not only affect him and his future, but the other characters in the book. In Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, the concept of naturalism is portrayed through the experiences of Lennie, Curley’s wife, and Crooks.

It is all quiet in the bunk house. Carlson is continuing to plead with Candy to let him to kill his dog. Candy does not want to allow it but, he does not feel he can deny Carlson. Candy looks to someone for guidance. Someone powerful in the bunkhouse; Someone named Slim. Candy needs the okay from the powerful one to stop Carlson 's request. This and every other event in the book is controlled by the powerful people. Power and the absence of power shape the relationships and steer the course of events in Of Mice and Men.

In John Steinbeck’s dynamic novel Of Mice and Men, the challenged Lennie’s harmless intentions results in heinous acts due to his decline in mentality and inability to control his own immense strength. In the beginning, Lennie’s simple love of soft things causes inconsequential incidents that quickly escalate into more severe offenses as the story progresses. By the end of the novel, Lennie’s uncontrollable strength and mental deficits leads him to commit unintended manslaughter.

In the novel of “Of Mice and Men” power and friendship is the very bases of the story. There are many people with power in the book but I specifically was interested in Curley’s power. Curley is the son of the Ranch’s boss and he is very spoiled. He does not listen to rules and usually gets away with any trouble he makes or gets into. Therefore, he is powerful for the very reason that he is “untouchable.” He does not use the power for kindness but uses it to show who is best and in a bullying matter.

Anyway, this research will focus only on three aspects - conscience crisis, violence, and fate and destiny. These aspects will be discussed in three separate chapters under the umbrella of the selected novels of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men(1937) , The Grapes of Wrath(1939) , and The Pearl (1947) and Cormac McCarthy ’s Blood Meridian (1985) , No country for old men( 2005) , and The Road (2006) . The investigator has adopted the sociological methodology throughout the thesis. Furthermore , the second chapter - conscience crisis, will be divided into two parts ( man’s inhumanity to man and greed ).

In the novella Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck incorporates many thematic ideas into his text. He includes the ideas of dreams and reality, the nature of home, and he difference of right and wrong. He develops these ideas throughout the story.

In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck power is revealed in multiple ways. Power is shown as an ultimate decider in who is respected and left out. The many different characters show their power and how they gain it, in various ways which is demonstrated throughout the novel. Power can sometimes be visible to the reader and sometimes can be hidden. Ultimately, power can decipher who you are, how much respect you receive, and where you stand among others financially, morally or socially.

In Of Mice and Men, the author, John Steinbeck suggests that power has a negative and corrupting affect on humans. After Lennie’s Aunt Clara dies, George and Lennie go out to find work together, and George is very mean to Lennie, taking advantage of Lennie’s mental disability. When George and Lennie start traveling together, George has “a hell of a lot of fun with ‘im [….] play[s] jokes on ‘im ‘cause he [is] too dumb” (40) and the jokes “make [him] seem God damn smart alongside him” (40). The usage of the word “fun” to describe George’s tormenting of Lennie indicates that his jokes were meant for his own pleasure. Even the usage of the word fun in this context makes the joking seem almost sadistic and cruel. Additionally, George benefits from