Strength In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

There is a conflict between the weak and the strong in Of Mice and Men. This conflict can differ among physical, emotional and intellectual strength and weakness. Characters that often represent this conflict are Lennie, Crooks, Curley, and George. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck shows that the weak will often try to appear strong in order to benefit themselves and gain power over others.
For example, Curley is intimidated by guys who are bigger and stronger than him. Curley states, “Curley’s like a lot of little guys, he hates big guys” (Steinbeck 26). Curley does not wish for the other ranch workers to perceive him as weak. Therefore, he picks a fight with Lennie because he assumes Lennie is laughing at him. Lennie’s physical strength is beneficial to him because he wins the fight against Curley. Curley was acting as if he was stronger than the others, which was not the case.

He has to live in a separate room than the rest of the workers because he is black. When Lennie comes to visit him, he does not know what to do because the other ranch workers have not been in his room. When they talk, Crooks realizes that Lennie is not intellectually strong and he relies on George to make his decisions. Crooks says, “Jus’ talks on, an’ you don’t know what the hell it’s all about” (Steinbeck 70). Crooks discovers that he can use his mental strength to gain power over Lennie. Crooks is not used to being able to have influence over someone else, especially someone who is white, such as Lennie. Crooks backs down from this idea after Lennie asserts his physical strength over