How Does Steinbeck Use Power In Of Mice And Men

A society is the aggregate of people living together in a more or less ordered community. In Of Mice and Men, this is a group of men who live in a less ordered community. Power is the ability to influence another person's throughout Of Mice and Men the reader can point out multiple times where someone has uses power to either keep a person in line or use it for a more immature manner. The characters of Mice and Men demonstrate with Rosseau's "On the Societal Contract" because Rousseau's contract describes traits such as how men can associate with each other and still maintain their individual freedom. The main idea of “The Societal Contract” is freedom. In Of Mice and Men the reader can tell that all the characters want freedom and want to achieve their version of the American dream. Curley's wife and George both use power in the book, but use a different type of power. Curley’s wife uses Coercive power with Crooks and George uses reward power with Lennie.

George uses reward power because of his relationship with Lennie. George acts as a father to Lennie throughout the book and knows Lennie will only listen to him and do anything he says. George has a large impact on society because throughout the book at the ranch he becomes friends with mainly everybody and motivates Candy to be part of George and Lennie’s dream with them. George is a great example of Rosseau's philosophy. He wants to become free, but puts society in front of himself as what he does with Lennie and throws away his