Landownership And Power In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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. Crooks also stands up to Curley’s wife when she is in his room because it is his land so he thinks he has power over her but the soon realizes he does not. Lennie and George's dream is owning their own land that they would have the power

The Boss owns the whole ranch. Because of this, he is seen as the most powerful man there. He has the most land out of all of the men making him feel superior. He has the power to fire any of the men and kick them out because it is his land. George wants this kind of power where he can be the boss of his own ranch. He wants to be the most powerful one; the one who makes all of the decisions. George wants “a little house, and a couple of acres.” (Steinbeck 14) Steinbeck is illustrating the importance of owning land and how that is what George and Lennie are striving for. When George says this, he is referring to the ranch Lennie and he are going to have. He and Lennie will have a room all to themselves and George will be able to let Lennie have rabbits because George owns the ranch and he has power over what happens there. Steinbeck is saying that the more land a person owns, the more powerful they will become or the more powerful they will think they