Comparing Power In Of Mice And Men And Maggie A Girl Of The Streets

In Of Mice and Men and Maggie, a Girl of the Streets, John Steinbeck and Stephen Crane describe differing roles of power. In Of Mice and Men, power comes from the male workers respecting the leadership Slim demonstrates but the fear Curley brings also plays a part in having power from the men. In Maggie, a Girl of the Streets, Maggie has a false image of Pete, believing him to be sophisticated and of a higher station in life. Maggie is allowing herself to give Pete more power than he deserves. With contrasting views of power, Steinbeck demonstrates power through the men honoring Slim’s leadership and fearing Curley, while Crane displays power through Maggie’s false perspective of Pete. Steinbeck demonstrates leadership among the men, using

Each of the men admire him and honors any decision he makes because of the wisdom he brought to them. “There was a gravity in his manner and a quiet so profound that all talk stopped when he spoke” (Steinbeck 33). The men expected a lot from Slim because he earned his power from him taking charge on the ranch. However, on the ranch, Slim wasn’t the only person who had authority though. Curley, the boss’ son, gained his power by the men fearing him. The men felt they did not have to honor what Curley said, but they knew they could not disrespect him. By Curley’s dad being the boss, the men except Curley when he is harassing or harming the other workers on the ranch. “Don’t tell Curley I said none of this. He’d slough me. He just don’t give a damn. Won’t ever get canned ‘cause his old man’s the boss” (Steinbeck 27). The respect from the men was the greatest respect you could gain at

When Maggie starts feeling attractions towards Pete, she imagines the power people give to him. This imagining comes from her inexperience to the lower-class pleasures he offered her. When Maggie was around Pete, she admired the way Pete presented himself towards her. He showed loved to her, but he also acted he was better than the people in the same class as him. “She thought he must live in a blare of pleasure. He had friends and people who were afraid of him” (Crane 23). Nellie, Pete’s crush, disrespect him and treats him below her. She teases him into liking her, but she doesn’t feel Pete is worth the disgrace to herself. On the other hand, Maggie views Pete as honorable, sophisticated, and admires all of his actions. She allowed herself to get manipulated by Pete because of the declared power she thought he had. She started loving him based on his elegance and knowledge. “Maggie perceived that Pete brought forth all his elegance and all his knowledge of high-class customers for her benefit” (Crane 25). Pete’s knowledge and elegance moved Maggie deeply. Maggie’s admiration towards Pete shows that Maggie views Pete as high-class, but in reality is in the class as Maggie. She believed that Pete being around her brought her a benefit, but it was more of a vice versa effect to her life. By Maggie’s admiration and inexperience with this finer life Pete displays, she encourages