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

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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 …show more content…

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

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John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, depicts race as a critical factor to the dominance of people during this time period. Racism is presented most evidently in chapter four by the treatment of Crooks, the stable buck. Crook’s and his fellow workers discussed ambitions in his quarters, which happened to be separate from the others clearly due to his skin tone. As the men conversed topics regarding the near future, Curley’s wife abruptly barged into the area searching for her husband. Noting the peril with which Curley’s wife is associated with,

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George had in his mind that he was going to buy land and have a house and a garden and also have farm animals. Lennie knows about this so George always tells him about it and how Lennie can tend the rabbits as long as he doesn’t screw up again, Which we soon find out, he screws up badly. George and Lennie soon find another job being ranch hands. They meet a lot of new people and George starts becoming friends with some of them. From the start of working there though, George and Lennie start having problems with the boss's son, Curley.

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“I want you to stay with me, Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebody’d shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself” (Steinbeck 13). George views his dream of being super practical for the kind of life he lives. Living on his own ranch with Lennie will let him have less of a worry about Lennie making decisions that will put the both of them in jeopardy. Living secluded on their own property will only make life easier.

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