“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” Was said by Abe Lincoln. Give a man power to see if he abuses it. Many things have changed now that it is 80 years later, but still there is stereotypical thought about these kinds of people. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, control of power in the 1930s was greatly different than it is now and was simply based on the color of skin, how much money a person had, and if a person had disabilities. Throughout the story, characters experienced different levels of power. George felt powerless when he could not explain Lennie’s situation with his disorder. “He’s my… cousin. I told his old lady I’d take care of him. He got kicked in the head by a horse when he was a kid. He’s awright. Just ain’t bright. But he can do anything you tell him” (22). Lennie has loss of power when George says he cannot have any more mice. “Well, you ain’t petting no mice while you walk with me” (6). Lennie has a personal loss of power because he has a mental illness and cannot control it. Lennie lost power to George when George was forced to put Lennie down after they found out what Lennie did to Curley's wife. “Right in the back of the head” (107). Different levels of power were possessed in the story. Character's powers in Of …show more content…
He is trying to say a man had to work all day just to get a meal in there belly, especially for a black person who works twice as hard for half the pay. Crooks is a black man, he earns his keep at the farm. He lives with the animals in the barn.”You got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me” (68).“I don’t know what you’re doin’ in the barn anyways” (68). He has a crooked back from getting kicked by a horse. “Got a crooked back where a horse kicked him”(20). John is trying to say that people get treated differently because of the color of a person’s
Lennie, like a mouse, is helpless. Lennie relies on George to think for him like mice rely on scraps of food from the dinner table to eat.
One of Lennie's many traits is his forgetfulness. He easily forgets what he is supposed to do, but he somehow never forgets what he is told. An example of how Lennie is forgetful is when he has the mice in his pocket and when he went to pet them they bit his finger. “Lennie picked up the dead mouse and looked at with a sad face. When they bit him he pinched them, and by doing that he crushed their heads” (page 5) . This is important because he knew that if he squeezed their heads they would die, but since he is forgetful, he squeezed anyway. Another example of how Lennie is forgetful is when he grabbed Curley's hand and crushed it. “ Curley’s fist was swinging when Lennie reached for it. Lennie squeezed on until George came running in shouting ‘let go’. The next moment Curley was on the ground wailing while he held his crushed hand” (page 64). This event is important because Lennie had held on, not knowing what to do next, until George told him what to do. A final exampl...
Lennie has always been told what to do by George. George really helps him through problems that keep happening during the book. Lennie is incapable to live because he does not know his strength and George has to play the role as a living assistant for Lennie. Lennie does not mean to harm but because of his condition he essentially harms people. In the book it explains the
Crooks, Curley’s wife, and most defiantly Lennie are the outcasts on the ranch. The novel presents Lennie as a mentally challenged, but an unusually strong worker who travels with his friend George. George takes care of Lennie as if he was his own child and Lennie cares for George the same way. “I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you” (14). Lennie describes how he cares for George although he honestly just messes everything up for George. Lennie has the mind of a child and does not understand how to act and be an adult. Lennie continues to pet dead mice, feel shiny and smooth objects, and not know how to interact with other people. From time to time, George continues to care and try to make improvements with Lennie, but it just does not happen. Lennie continues to have the mind of a child and can never distinguish the different between right and wrong. Throughout the novel; from being a mentally challenged; tall, muscular man; Lennie is most definitely an outcast in the story Of Mice and Men.
Several characters in the novel Of Mice and Men are presented with additional obstacles throughout the book. Whether because of color, sex, or disabilities, John Steinbeck purposefully did this to illustrate oppression. Of Mice and Men explores the effects of systemic oppression on women, African-Americans, and people with disabilities.
When you’re in a position of high authority, it comes with a great sum of power. Having a great deal of control can corrupt and can lead to the abuse of it. Abuse of power is using their power for their own benefit even if it may harm others. In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the effects of the abuse shown by Curley and Curley’s wife to the other characters will ultimately lead to a tragic end.
The book, Of Mice and Men is not just about the death of Lennie, as one might think, it’s also about power. Throughout the book, one can observe each character’s attempts to gain influence over the ranch crew, or at least to be accepted into a society. However, only one man can be on top, and that man became Slim, the ageless jerkline skinner. Unlike Curley, he lead with an understanding mind instead of abusing the power gained by achieving the American Dream.
Throughout the novel Of Mice and Men, Crooks, Curley’s wife, and Lennie could not reach their potential because of the discrimination against them. In the Depression era, people discriminated against African-American people by using derogatory terms, physically assaulting them and limiting their socialization. They discriminated against women by calling names and making offensive assumptions. Mentally disabled people are targets of brutal actions, stereotypes, and betrayals. Steinbeck warned people not to discriminate against others by showing various conflicts and tragic endings that are caused by discrimination.
Of Mice and Men, by Steinbeck, shows many different views on society. This book has a lot different messages you can take and apply to real life. All the people in the story can relate to someone today and also to some stuff that still happens all around the world. When reading this book you can really start to understand and connect with the characters and identify their weaknesses and their strengths. Some things you really start to notice is how powerful some people are and how they use that power in everyday living. Many characters had power, because of that it helped some get by, helped some take advantage and boss people around, but power also hurt them.
In the novel, Lennie faces the adversity in explaining himself to the rest of the world. Thus ,Lennie’s adversity is his mental illness which he is continuously throughout the book trying to overcome.Since ,he is mentally challenged, most people, even George intermittently, underestimates his intelligence and logic skills. At the ranch in Soledad,...
Discrimination is a problem that plagues those whose qualities are vulnerable. There are many examples of discrimination in the novel, Of Mice and Men. The characters face discrimination in many different ways including racial, age, gender, and disability. Crooks, the black stable buck, is the victim of racial discrimination. Candy, the old swamper, is a victim of the age discrimination. The victim of gender discrimination is Curley's wife because she is a woman. Life of the victims is hard because of the things they have to go through. Lastly, Lennie is mentally handicap so he discriminated against because of that.
Conflict, by definition, is a back and forth struggle between two opposing forces. In the literary work, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, it is clear, the protagonist, George Milton, undergoes many conflicts that lead to the novel’s overall purpose. Steinbeck weaves together George’s conflicts with others, himself, and with society to illustrate what the true meaning of friendship is.
Although racism is slowly diminishing, there is still much work to be done to completely end racism. All throughout Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck explores how isolation through sexism and racism can cause a person to crave attention. He helps the reader to understand this by depicting both Curley’s Wife and Crooks, who were minorities on the farm, as extremely needy for attention
This means that Crooks has to be defensive when people speak to him this is shown when he says sharply “You got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me”. This line of text presents Crooks as being uptight and defensive but also someone who knows their rights and where he can and can’t go. The idea of segregation is supported by this quote because he telling lennie to leave his room, later on crooks says “I ain't wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain't wanted in my room” segregation is clearly shown here by Crooks saying their is a boundary which no-one should cross except him and he won't go in the bunkhouse. How Crooks says “you ain't wanted in my room” shows he is very defencive when it comes to white people coming into his shed because that is a place where he feels safe and won't be discriminated
The theme of power in prevalent in John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice And Men’ and is presented and developed in many different ways. Power is first established in the title, which introduces the recurring wrath of fate implying that men, like beast, are helplessly fated to live a disempowered and isolated life. Some however seek comfort in their powerful dreams, and companionship in their romanticised fraternal bonds, most notably that of Lennie and George, whose unconditional love for another leaves the reader with questions regarding their own morality. Steinbeck’s powerful prose, a strong single plot line over a short time span drives the tragic events forward, and his depiction of the foreshadowing natural world gives the novella a certain aspect of duality.