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How Does Steinbeck Use Power In Of Mice And Men

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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.
One example of power shown in the story is when Carlson …show more content…

̈ Candy looked a long time at Slim to try to find some reversal. ̈(Steinbeck 48).
Candy tried to look for Slim to help him but he didn't care.Candy lost his hope for having his old dog with him and decided to give up and give it to him.-Candy said: ̈softly and hopelessly,"Awright--take 'im. ̈ At this point Candy lost his power against Carlson since he said take him and didn't try to keep the dog anymore.
This quote, “"What the hell you laughin' at?" Lennie looked blankly at him. "Huh?" Then
Curley's rage exploded. "Come on, ya big bastard. Get up on your feet. Lennie looked helplessly at George, and then he got up and tried to retreat. Curley was balanced and poised. He slashed at
Lennie with his left, and then smashed down his nose with a right. ̈. ̈(Steinbeck 64).In this quote, power has been shown by Curley over Lennie. Lennie laughed at Curley like everyone did, but
Curley was trying to show everyone that he is strong and decided to start fighting with Lennie because he has a disability even that Curley knows that Lennie is stronger than him and could beat him.but Lennie didnt want to hurt him or to get in trouble because he knows that curly in …show more content…

"I didn't wanta hurt him."(Lennie 65).That shows how Lennie couldn't stop Curly from beating him but not because he is weak but because of that Curly has more power than him and he could be in trouble for trying to stop him,
Finally power has been shown as racism on African American in this story, as we saw what happened to Crooks(African American) from Curley's wife, as she used her power to abuse and bother him in his room ̈ You got no rights messing around in here at all. Now you jus' get out, an' get out quick. If you don't, I'm gonna ast the boss not to ever let you come in the barn no more."(Crooks 81).She came to his room and she starts bothering him, He told her she had no right to be in his room,mess around and he will tell the boss about her.She answered ̈You know what I can do to you if you open. your trap?" Crooks stared hopelessly at her, and then he sat down on his bunk and drew into himself. She closed on him. "You know what I could do?

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He shows his malevolence through his unnecessary need to provoke a fight with Lennie, even though the big man did not directly attack him in any way, but after first seeing Lennie, Curley is described: “His arms gradually bent at the elbows and his hands closed into fists. He stiffened and went into a slight crouch. His glance was at once calculating and

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This quote tells us that Curley would kill Lennie and shoot him in the guts. It tells us that Curley wants him to suffer. George killing Lennie was the right choice

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Due to this quality, Curley especially hates Lennie because of his large size and wants to fight him after any sign of provocation, causing multiple problems for Lennie and George. Curley is the main

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When Curley became aware of what occurred, he grew so angry and threatened Lennie’s life. “‘I’m gonna shoot the guts outa that big bastard myself, even if I only got one hand. I’m gonna get ‘im.’” (Steinbeck) George knew it had to be him to kill Lennie rather than Curley.

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Although Curley regularly has more power than Lennie on the ranch, when Lennie was told to exert all of his strength out on Curley, he did, and he defeated him. This also connects to a reoccurring message about Lennie of not being aware of his own

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This proves that Lennie is innocent and that Curley is the one who caused his own unfortunate incident in the bunkhouse. The quotation shows that George is even more to blame than Lennie is because George was the one that told him to do it, and that Lennie proclaimed that he did not want to hurt

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”(62) This shows that Curley has power threatening someone because he’s intimidating Lennie into fighting

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Being powerless in society can cause one to be taken advantage of and mistreated. The book, Of Mice and Men, shows a great depiction of this. Lennie was viewed as a target by Curley, ever since he arrived at the ranch. Lennie, who struggled with his lack of common sense, relied on his best friend, George, to help him constantly. Curley, who saw Lennie as weak, decided to take out his anger on him, punching him in the face, simply for smiling, which is something that Lennie was unable to control.

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“He backup until he was against the wall, and Curley followed, slugging him in the face. Lennie’s hand remained at his sides; he was too frightened to defend himself.” Furthermore, Curley Pushes Lennie into a corner. While in the corner, and repeatedly smacked Lennie kept his hands down.

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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. Curley is not a kind fellow and not a lot of people are his friend in the book. He is described as a “thin young man with a brown face and a head of tightly curled hair.”

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Curley is a very aggressive person, It is not only his aggressiveness that is the problem but whenever he receives the news of his wife’s death he immediately suspects Lennie with no evidence or idea of what happened. “I know who done it, he cried. That big son-of-a-bitch done it.” (SteinBeck 94).

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He started to fight Lennie. Lennie was just trying to mind his own business, and was telling George to get Curley to leave him alone. “‘Make ‘um let me alone, George’ (Steinbeck 63).” “‘Make ‘um stop, George’ (Steinbeck 63).” This shows that Lennie did not want to fight Curley, he just wanted to be left alone.

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He ran furiously out of the barn. Carlson said, “[he’ll] get [his] Luger,” and he ran out too. ``When Curley first met Lennie he immediately disliked him because how Lennie was bigger and stronger than Curley. But He was more enraged by the fact that Lennie was the reason that his wife died which caused Him wanting Lennie dead or experienced the worst type of pain. Even though because of his cognitive disability he doesn’t realize the harm that he is causing.

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The marginalized group of characters in the book Of Mice and Men are insecure and diverse, therefore they pick on each other to make themselves feel more dominant or take everyone down with them. This theme that strength and power arises from vulnerability is clearly depicted in the

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Curly sees Lennie and starts bullying him because he talks slowly. Curly wants to fight him but Georget tells him to back off. I picked this scene to show my theme because George is defending Lennie by telling Curley to back off because Lennie doesn’t want to fight him. Later on in the book Curley confronts Lennie again. But this time he doesn’t back down and starts to fight Lennie.

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