In the novel, ¨Of Mice and Men,¨ the author, John Steinbeck, develops complex characters which opens the story up for interpretation. Steinbeck uses both direct and indirect characterization, which forces the reader to infer important traits about each characters. An example of a character is Crooks, a colored man working on a ranch during the Great Depression. Being the only black man on the ranch, Crooks is often looked down on as a stable bunk, and is not respected as the other men are. Because of this, Crooks is perceived as powerless.
In the book,”Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck the theme power and powerlessness can drive people to do desperate and sometimes cruel things is portrayed throughout the book. More explicitly seen with George. The text reveals George being powerless by stating, “And George raised the gun and steadied it... He pulled the trigger.” This is a strong example of powerlessness because Lennie’s Childlike demeanor and behavior has caused many problems in a brief period of time and now George must pull the trigger before somebody else does.
In the 1930’s the stock market crashed and affected many people in America. In the novel “Of mice and men” by John Steinbeck he expresses a lot of what happened. The underdogs define powerfulness because of the setting and their place in society. A way steinbeck got his ideasfor powerlessness is the background.
Have you ever been misunderstood before? Have things ever gotten really tough and you just don’t know what to do? Well, in the story “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, Curley’s Wife is very misunderstood. The story takes place during the great depression in Salinas Valley, California.
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.
Some characters that are low on the scale are sometimes thought to be powerless but that is not the case. Like the oddball group left behind when most everybody went into town. Lennie, Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s Wife are the outsiders of the group but still manage to establish power above each other. A major example of that is when Curley’s Wife (someone with little credibility) threatened Crooks saying “I could get you strung up on a tree so easily it ain’t even funny.” (Steinbeck 81).
In Of Mice and Men the characters demonstrates that those who obtain more privilege, possess more power than those who do not fit within the ideal standards of the American society. Firstly, those who are born into a life with privilege are those who dominate with power and control. Those who lack privilege due to the standards of society can not be powerful without fear of consequence. The workers on the ranch do not show power as they are afraid of what might happen if they do speak up. “Don't tell Curley
In the novel of “Of Mice and Men” power and friendship is the very bases of the story. There are many people with power in the book but I specifically was interested in Curley’s power. Curley is the son of the Ranch’s boss and he is very spoiled. He does not listen to rules and usually gets away with any trouble he makes or gets into.
In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck the theme of power is prevailed and developed throughout the book by certain character traits that are shown throughout the development of each character. John Steinbeck uses the trait of weakness for some characters to make others show dominance, this creates a sense of power between characters. There are characters that show weakness in some situations but power in others. Within each character there is power and there is weakness.
Have you ever not interacted with people for awhile then, once you do, do you feel refreshed? This “refreshed” feeling is perfectly represented in the book Of mice and men when characters strive to interact with others. Of Mice and Men is a novel written by John Steinback about how two men, George and Lennie, venture out to a farm, including labor, with big dreams ahead based on the Great Depression. Of mice and men does a good job of portraying the different types of power throughout all of the characters. There's several different sources of power, including referent power, shown in the character Slim, and Coercive power shown in the character Curley.
Turning on the news to see another powerful dictator, or a new segregation issue is heart crushing. The fight for power is never ending, resulting in a disproportionate spread of it. The severity of these problems are rising to be a larger issue, an issue that Steinbeck noticed and brought much attention to in his novella, Of Mice and Men. He uses his characters to display the idea that power is too often unequally distributed, meaning some have too much power and others have too meager of an amount. Differing ranges of power then have negative impacts on people, as does Curley's power.
In the novel “Of Mice and Men” John Steinbeck portrays the theme of social injustice throughout the story in the lives of several characters that include Lennie, Curley’s Wife, and the stable buck, Crooks. All of these characters are mistreated in some way, shape or form. The hardships that these characters faced help guide us to see the social injustice that is prevalent in the story. Lennie is a victim of social injustice due to the fact that he is mentally disabled. He is not treated fairly when he was accused of rape.
¨Pick on someone your own size ¨. This remark refers to the bigger picking on the weaker and smaller. In the novel, Of Mice and Men, author John Steinbeck illustrates multiple different ways that the weak are often at the mercy of the strong and powerful . He illustrates this topic through not only one but many characters in the novel such as Lennie, Curley's wife, and Crooks. He also shows that those who are not only physical weaker but mentally are also often at the mercy of the strong and powerful.
The first display of Slim portraying his power occurs inside the barn when Lennie crushes Curley’s hand and cautions Curley by saying, “You jus’ tell an’ try to get this guy canned an’ then you get the laugh”(Steinbeck 64). Curly responds to Slim's authority and replies, “I won’t tell”(64). As soon as Curly backs down to Slim, it is prevalent that Slim has the most power on the ranch based on the fact that he has shut down the boss's son. The importance of Slim positively affecting George and Lennie, shows that he doesn’t abuse his power. These selfless qualities that Slim holds, is what allows him to gain and maintain his powerful position within the ranch.
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.
