Preview

A Comparison Of Power In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
Many people have power or are overpowered by others. This applies both in real life and the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Many of the characters in John Steinbeck's book excel or are limited in power. But all characters have certain aspects about their personality and physique that gives them power or shows why people have power over them. Many details and aspects make characters the way they are and their abilities and limits display their dominance.
George might not be that big in size but his voice, character, and mental ability show that he has power. Though George might not have power over much mostly because everyone who has power over him is an authoritative figure. George has power over mostly Lennie and Candy. Several examples are at the pond when George demanded Lennie
…show more content…

Slim bath has an authoritative figure and is highly respected. Slims graceful figure and authoritative stature was emphasized from the moment John Steinbeck introduced him. His description of Slim quickly got some readers to picture and authoritative and sophisticated character. With Steinbeck's description it also shows how even Slims figure get people to think he is hardworking and graceful. Slim's power derived from his description. Tough Slim wasn’t in mentioned in the book that much description and detail indicate he is a man with power.
Each Character has power or have power over them in their significant way. Physical power, mental power, authoritative power, or respective power John Steinbeck included one or more of these into the characters of his book Of Mice and Men. These powers also determined their fate at the end of the book. The power that each character had made up each decision. From the rash to the smart decisions, if a character did not have the power to do so the book would be different. The book started and ended the way it did because each character had power or didn’t, and that reverberated throughout the whole


You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    "No, Lennie. I ain't mad. I never been mad, an' I ain't now. That's a thing I want ya to know"(Steinbeck 106) -George…

    • 1495 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The power someone has over others can affect one's life, hopes and dreams. Power is still power whether it is power of authority or power by manipulating people. In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck some characters, when given the opportunity exercise their power over others to manipulate them. The characters that use their power to manipulate other characters is Crooks, Carlson and Curley’s wife.…

    • 1133 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams dies, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly. (Langston Hughes)” The film “Of Mice and Men” directed by Gary Sinise is an adaption of the novel with the same name written by John Steinbeck, it depict the iconic living conditions and life style of farmers in California during the great depression. Both the novel and the film emphasize the themes of “friendship”, “loneliness” and “loss of dreams” in which the characters are vividly portrayed in different scenes.…

    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The ability to do something or act in a particular way is the power you have. The book ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ tells a story about a poor white girl ( Mayella) that claims a black man (Tom) has raped her. Well Tom is wrongly convicted of raping Mayella. Someone's class, gender, and race affect their lives.Mayella has power over Tom in the novel because she is a white female, but she does not have power because of her class.…

    • 388 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The boss leaves and a little later comes Curley, the bosses son, an aggressive man who seems to not like “big guys” and quickly tells George to let Lennie talk. Curley then leaves and Candy tells them that Curley loves being mean to the bigger guys because they all think that he's mad because he's not as big. He later says that Curley’s attitude has only gotten worse since his recent marriage to a “tart” who enjoys flirting with the men working.…

    • 82 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The title of the book that I am doing my report on is Of Mice and Men. The author of this realistic fictional novel is John Steinbeck. The Penguin Group published it. Of Mice and Men was published in 1937 and has 107 pages. This story is about two friends, one of which is mentally impaired traveling to different states trying to make a living to accomplish their dreams. I believe that the author wanted to inform us about how hard economic times were back during the Great Depression.…

    • 587 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" there were many ideas, many of which were contrasting. This is shown even in the title contrasting and comparing mice and men and their similarities and their differences. This shows that in John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" Lennie was a blessing, and a burden to George.…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    d the cream.They are like brothers they work together and provide food for each other.George provided both of them food and shelter he got lennie a job George is like the big brother. Lennie thinks they both could make there dreams come true.George tells a story to Lennie that is about them and that Lennie knows the story by heart and George stops telling the story to lennie because he told lennie he doesn't need to keep telling the story if lennie knows it by heart.George says that lennie should tell the story but lennie said that George tells it better.They camped outside the farm for the night they only had a campfire and sleeping bags They kill the rabbits when its winter and they tend.They live in a ranch so they big vegetable patch and…

    • 307 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    This theme of power is also shown in the mouse, as the fact that Steinbeck shows the mouse already dead before it's found foreshadows Curley's wife being dead before she was found. The mouse symbolises the lack of hope and ambition felt by Curley's wife; her repetitive daily routine representing all the powerless women during the 1930's. It displays how women during that time had nothing to work towards or aim for, and as a result desperately sought attention and hence settling attentively for the ears of a stranger. The symbolised mouse also explains to the reader the theme of power and powerlessness, felt by most of the characters on the…

    • 112 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lotf Essay

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Throughout the book, Lord of the flies, by William Golding, the reader learns what characteristics are needed to become powerful. Physical strength is a major quality needed to do so. The author demonstrates this using the character, Jack who is strong and taller than all the other children on the island. Jack displays his power over the children, “A fire! Make a fire! At once half the boys were on their feet. Jack clamored among them, the conch forgotten. Come on! Follow me!” (Golding 38). Jack demanded the children to listen and work on getting a fire started on the island. They’re forced to listen because of Jack’s physical strength and larger, superior, threatening size. They are simply afraid of him and instantly label him as their leader. Piggy lacks this physical strength, which limits his power over the group. Jack insults piggy, “You're no good on a job like this. All the same – We don’t want you, said Jack, flatly. Three’s enough” (24). Jack rejected Piggy’s offer to help the group find the others. He uses Piggy’s poor physical performance, like being overweight and having asthma as an excuse to degrade him. Jack and the others on the island see Piggy as a fat, weak leader with no power over them, not realizing his true knowledge that could save them all. Piggy lacks power because of his weakness in physical strength, while Jack becomes powerful by his intimidating strength and size. Also, an individual has to have strong ambition to become powerful. Early in the book, Jack shows his desire to become a powerful leader. Ralph brings up the idea about a leader for the group, “He lifted the conch. Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things. A chief! A chief! I ought to be chief,” said Jack with simple arrogance, because I’m chapter chorister and head boy” (22). This shows that Jack’s main objective was to take charge of the group of children and be in control. Even before the plane crash on the island Jack was…

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Truth is everybody is going to hurt you: you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for” (Bob Marley). The novel Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, was set in the Great depression. In the novel George has to deal with Lenny every single day and it’s not easy, but he loves him and he just has to accept that Lenny is part of his life. In this book, society was frustrating. People were very sexist, and instead of coming together and helping each other everyone kept to themselves this is also known as isolation. Also, during this time people who suffered from mental and physical disabilities were often isolated and faced discrimination. Steinbeck identifies many societal problems during the Great Depression, and brings them to light in his novella Of Mice and Men.…

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Power isn’t just strength. Power could be a couple other ways too. A book that is science-fiction called “of mice of men” by john Steinbeck. The book is about two men who work on a California farm. In the time they were in the great depression. It was very hard to have power during that time. The book kinds of are power that Steinbeck was trying to show in the book was mental, racism, and strengths.…

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In this article Thomas Scarseth tells about how John Steinbeck how the theme of greatness despite defeat throughout the novel, Of Mice and Men. Scarseth explained that real life does not have happy endings, and that other books have happy endings. The low class characters using vulgar language, and use of sexual conduct sometimes draws readers away. Most readers that like reading enjoy the book because of how Of Mice and Men relates to the hardships of life. Other point Scarseth brings up about Steinbeck’s themes is that everyone is created equal. Showing that you have to work to become something more than average. This leads to Scarseth saying everyone in the book is both good and bad, neither purely one. This leads to gruesome situations, based on good intentions. Scarseth finally tells us that the whole point of the book is good intentions gone bad, making situations go from bad to worse.…

    • 1006 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Power can be demonstrated in many ways, power can be used over someone mentally but also physically. Vermeer from “A girl with a pearl earring” had both types of power over Griet. In the book you find out how Vermeer got what he wanted from Griet through power and how Griet gradually becoming more than a maid. She goes from being a maid to an assistant to Vermeer subject. Vermeer being Griet’s master made him automatically have power over how , his paintings was another source of power also his impact on her moral and physical body shows how much power he actually had over Griet.…

    • 1070 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Writing and Mice

    • 303 Words
    • 2 Pages

    5. Power. Think about different characters in Of Mice and Men, and the power that they have. What different kinds of power do different characters have? Where does it come from? What do they do with it? How does it help them, or hurt them?…

    • 303 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays