In the classic American novel Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, power is a recurring theme. Most of the characters have direct ties to power, whether it is physical, social, economic, or intellectual. But the author balances their powers with flaws. Lennie, a main character, has a lot of physical power. Yet due to his mental disability, he does not understand the consequences of his actions. Because of this, he cannot control his strength. His lack of empathy results in unintentional damage to those around him. Compared to other characters, Lennie is not as high up on the social ladder. This is since he is unable to see possible outcomes from his decisions. Through Lennie’s characterization, one sees that in the novel, knowing how
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.
Power is an important theme throughout the plotline of John Steinbeck’s book, Of Mice and Men. The book Of Mice and Men is placed in the time of the Great Depression. Throughout the story, friends, George and Lennie travel together to find work and make money; in which they eventually find a place where they can work. While there are many lessons that Steinbeck teaches, in the novella Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck suggests that some people aren’t aware of their power; which is shown in the scene where Lennie crushes Curley’s hand and when he kills Curley’s wife. First, Steinbeck suggests that some people aren’t aware of their power throughout the scene where Lennie crushes Curley’s hand.
Of Mice and Men 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.
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.
John Steinbeck writes the novella, “Of Mice and Men”, to portray a realist story that conveys the idea that there is and should always be a sociological battle between the rich and the poor, the working class and the money-makers, the powerful and the powerless. This belief was formed from Charles Darwin's survival theories and translated into Social Darwinism, the belief in the “fittest” being successful rather than more able to survive. Darwin wrote, “With savages, the weak in body or mind are soon eliminated… We civilised men, on the other hand…build asylums for the imbecile, the maimed, and the sick; we institute poor-laws;” and “do our utmost to check the process of elimination” (“The Descent”). Although Steinbeck writes a story that portrays
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 relates back to naturalism, because Lennie gets himself into a situation that he cannot control. He does not understand that he has to be very careful with the puppy because it is so small, and he does not know his own strength. “What is clear is that Lennie’s body wins out over his mind repeatedly,- in the end with tragic consequences”(Keener 1215). Lennie is very kind- hearted, and never wants to hurt anyone. This quote explains that Lennie’s strength wins over his intentions.
Does power affect your relationships? If so, is it healthy? In the realistic fiction novella Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck writes about about itinerant workers in the Great Depression in the Salinas Valley in California. There are relationships in the novella that reflect the theme power, and he writes how power plays a role in these relationships. The theme power, shown in competence, gender, and race, affects relationships.
Of Mice and Men “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.
In the novel “Of Mice and Men” John Steinbeck portrays the theme of social injustice throughout the story in the lives of several characters that include Lennie, Curley’s Wife, and the stable buck, Crooks. All of these characters are mistreated in some way, shape or form. The hardships that these characters faced help guide us to see the social injustice that is prevalent in the story. Lennie is a victim of social injustice due to the fact that he is mentally disabled. He is not treated fairly when he was accused of rape.
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.
He is depicted as perfect, and therefore, has no weaknesses. Contrarily, every other major character in the novella does have a weakness of some sort. Lennie and George’s weakness, for instance, is Lennie’s mental disability. Lennie’s mental disability does not allow Lennie to move forward in his life without assistance, which, since Lennie’s Aunt Clara died,
In the beginning of the novel, we can tell that Lennie is a vulnerable character because we suspect there is some sort of mental disability going on with him. We see this in the first section where he wouldn't let go of the dead mouse because he wanted to pet it. Back in the 1930’s, people were not very understanding of mental illness. Because of this, Lennie was called dumb and child like. This put lennie at a disadvantage because people thought less of him and his capabilities.
Lennie, clearly, is not fit to live in society as it exists in Of Mice and Men. His intellectual weakness parallels Candy's physical weakness. When, in the end, he is
“The unavoidable truth is, however, that Lennie, be he innocent “natural,” uncontrollable id, or simply a huge child, is above all dangerous.” (Owens) Children are known for having tempers. They have trouble expressing their feelings in words. Lennie is a lot like this and with his enormous strength, it is difficult to control him. Of Mice and Men shows many thematic ideas that relate to the world today even though it is set in the 1930’s.