ipl-logo

How Does Steinbeck Present The Powerlessness In Of Mice And Men

996 Words4 Pages

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 …show more content…

Steinbeck purposely chooses to present Candy’s powerlessness by describing him in a way that incites sympathy from the reader. The author depicts Candy in this particular chapter as “looking for help from face to face”, and repeats the desperation to the reader again with “Candy looked helplessly at him, for Slim’s opinions were law” (“Of Mice and Men” 45) which further depicts the relationship between the powerful and powerless, with him being the powerless. Steinbeck depicts Candy through a lens of hopelessness to help show the reader the struggle he is facing in everyday life, even within their group of migrant workers. The description of the character’s struggle is significant in helping the reader fully understand the conflict he faces in having no one to be a voice for him. By having no one that can stand up for him and being surrounded by people who believe in the social hierarchy of the workplace, he is completely defenseless against the things that happen to him, and this in turn continues Steinbeck’s desire to encourage people to be a voice for the voiceless in their times of …show more content…

He includes in his article that “They are resourceful and intelligent people'' and are “gypsies by force of circumstances” who are “never allowed to feel at home in the communities that demand their services” (“Harvest Gypsies”). Although this article is about migrant workers in California, it can be argued that by using the term “gypsies,” Steinbeck is fighting for all the powerless in the world. He refers to them as resourceful and intelligent to urge the reader to see humanity in the situation they are in and the treatment they are receiving. Through this article, he is acting as a voice for the voiceless helping to end the cycle of powerful vs. powerless. It is vital to the growth of our society that we start to see the humanity in all people and look past circumstances they are in, as Steinbeck is urging us to

Show More
Related
578 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel Of Mice And Men by John Stienbeck, the hierarchy of the characters in Crooks’ room is Curley’s wife, Candy, Lennie, and Crooks. This is shown by the way each of these characters interact with each other. Crooks is shown to have the least power because he lost his battle with Lennie. Crooks tried to get into Lennie’s head, which worked, until Lennie became violent. Crooks, seeing that he couldn’t compete, backed off, showing that Lennie had power over him.

Read More
606 Words | 3 Pages

In Of Mice And Men, by John Steinbeck, many people suffer, but George suffers the most, more than anybody. Even though Candy suffers because his dog died and he has no more friends or family, I believe that George suffered the most in of mice and men because he had to kill his best friend and he gets punished for whatever Lennie does wrong since they are tied at the hip. George suffers more than anybody in the story, even candy. Even though Candy had his best friend killed he was not there to see the dog die.

Read More
1160 Words | 5 Pages

Power in the Powerless The realistic fiction novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck tells the story of George and Lennie, to migrant workers trying to find work during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, and how they try to achieve their dream of a small farm. Along the way they meet intriguing characters and run into some difficulties. In the book Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck shows different rates of power throughout the farm, and displays these ranks through the characters George, Curley, and Crooks.

Read More
846 Words | 4 Pages

Through leadership there are always two ways to use this kind of power, the right or wrong way. Steinbeck shows this in the book called Of Mice and Men, he uses his characters to show how people can use this power and what will happen to them. But Steinbeck wants to teach the readers, that there are things which people have to worry about while using this kind of power. If the person uses this power for the wrong way, it never ends well for them. But if the person use this kind of power for good, it will end well for them.

Read More
394 Words | 2 Pages

Round 1:A2 Steinbeck portrays the power that each character has,where it comes from, what they do with it,and how it either hurts them or helps them. Lennie has lots of strength, but he doesn't know how to use it. Lennie’s strength gets him into trouble because he kills animals and when he is scared he doesn't let go of the object in his hands. George has the power over Lennie because he is always getting himself into trouble that george has to get him out of it. Lennie relies on george to help him on what to say or to say it for him.

Read More
687 Words | 3 Pages

In this extract of Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, Carlson’s eagerness to kill Candy’s dog is effectively drawn out and delayed, but is in the end satisfied with Candy giving in. The tool behind the killing of his dog is a result of the destructive and menacing force of loneliness. Steinbeck displays the effect and power of loneliness through personifying the silence and using it to stall the story which, through the carefully placed tense diction, creates a lot of tension throughout the extract and especially within the bunkhouse. Steinbeck’s strongest demonstration of loneliness’ power is the personification/repetition of silence, and how the silence is the aftermath of loneliness’ mental destruction. The build up to the killing of Candy’s

Read More
882 Words | 4 Pages

For centuries, people have been afraid or feared of a person who has more power. While our society is not quite there yet, Mice and Men story allows readers to imagine how fear of someone who has power has been a problem with this society. It shows how a small and smart man called George and his disabled, big and huge friend Lennie and how they feared and suffered a lot with Lennies ́s disability to face other people and find a job to buy their own dream ranch. Steinbeck's message about power is that people react differently in positions of power because in Of Mice and Men readers see characters with little to no power, who responsibly use their power, and those who abuse their power.

Read More
563 Words | 3 Pages

In the novella Of Mice and Men features a variety of characters who all posses a different kind of power and each character’s power has its own origin. Every character also has a different way of using their power and the power they have isn’t always something helpful. Beginning with Lennie, whose power comes from his size and strength. His size and strength make up for the lack of smart. For most of the story Lennie uses his strength for working.

Read More
1725 Words | 7 Pages

In the novella, Of Mice and Men, the author John Steinbeck illustrates a ranch in the 1930’s during the great depression where those who fit into mainstream society run the show, and those deemed “outcasts” are rendered useless. Steinbeck depicts characters with setbacks that diminish their value in the eyes of society, and contrasts them to characters that have no difficulties conforming to the norm. Crooks, being a black man isolated by his race, and Candy, a elderly man limited by his age and missing limb are examples of Steinbeck characters that experience hardships because of the differences. The poor treatment of Crooks and Candy by the other characters, and their chronic unhappiness in a place that doesn’t value them, comments on how

Read More
1218 Words | 5 Pages

Although the Great Depression was a difficult time for most of the country, some people thrived. This was mostly caused by the privilege and power some had over others. In The Great Gatsby written in 1925 by Fitzgerald and in Of Mice and Men written by Steinbeck in 1937, the female and/or poor characters are portrayed very differently than the rich male characters to show the effects that privilege had on this time. Both Fitzgerald and Steinbeck criticized privilege and power through characterization. Both Fitzgerald and Steinbeck gave the women in The Great Gatsby and Of Mice and Men harsh and sexualized deaths through characterization and diction which shows that they had less privilege and power than the men in the stories.

Read More
745 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
154 Words | 1 Pages

In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck employs the modernist concept of Social Darwinism in order to distinguish between characters who survive and characters who succumb to the abuses of society. Social Darwinism, in short, is the theory that the Darwinian laws of natural selection account for the social hierarchy of society. Just like how favorable characteristics allow animals to survive in the wild, favorable attributes allow an individual to thrive in society. Social Darwinism champions the phrase ‘survival of the fittest’, implying that only the strong will survive and thrive, and the weak will be left behind. In his novel, Steinbeck applies Social Darwinism in order to create a social hierarchy between the characters of his novel,

Read More
164 Words | 1 Pages

Last night to watching tv on a channel for Liga MX about soccer of my favorite is Club America team. So lucky is win to team with Club America (2) vs (1) Tigres get winning for CONCACAF Champions League for Club America this year begin 7 times get a trophy. That is so awesome get 100 years of greatness to be support team for say to called on Las Aguilas mean "The Eagles" for CCL with a title in celebration; in fact, America can be Mexico of the share is team. Finally, get to beat is Tigres get win for Club America and will shirt to my support shirt on tomorrow to show people in college. But, I don't want to wear it because someone know that well have to change is clothes for The Flash already.

Read More
281 Words | 2 Pages

Course Description The Health Care Education course investigate the various theories and applications of adult education in the practice of training and health professions education . TCourse Objectives Evaluate the characteristics and needs of learners in the health professions.

Read More
513 Words | 3 Pages

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

Read More

More about How Does Steinbeck Present The Powerlessness In Of Mice And Men

Related Topics

Open Document