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An essay for the grapes of wrath
Grapes of wrath: struggles
Grapes of wrath: struggles
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The novel has a lot of characters. Each character has his own power, some has authority like the boss, slim and Curley and some has no authority or power like crooks and candy. This could be represented in a hierarchy pyramid with the boss at the top then slim, Curley, candy crooks, starting from the man with the most power to the one with least power.
Starting with the boss, it is immediately shown that he has most power, because he owns the ranch and he can hire or fire and worker. Steinbeck also represents his power by not giving him a name and referring to him as ‘ the boss’ the shows that he is god-like with most power. When he met with George and Lennie he said ‘don’t try to put nothing over cause you can’t get away with nothing’, that shows his superiority and that he’s a wise man that can have an immediate impression on anyone. In the end of this scene he ‘turned abruptly and went to the door’ that shows his self-confidence and self importance because he has authority.
Because of his connection with the boss, he certainly has authority, so he has a position of power but he u...
Although he isn’t technically their boss, he wants to feel power over them and this is the only way he can get the feeling of power he craves for so much.
Steinbeck believed that friendship was important. Lennie knows that George will always have his back, although Lennie cannot really protect George he feels like he can (Steinbeck 14). Even though George says, he does not want Lennie with him, he does not want to leave him by himself (Steinbeck 13). When Lennie and George first get to the ranch, the boss starts to ask them questions. George answers all of them even if they were asking Lennie. He knows that if Lennie talks, he might say what happened in Weed (Steinbeck 22). The boss, at the new farm, thinks that George only wants to take Lennie money. But George tells him that he only wants to take care of Lennie. The boss tells George that he had never seen two men traveling together like him and Lennie (22).
When I look at Caleb Trask, I see a man from the book East of Eden to admire. Although he was a man with many faults and shortcomings, and a man with an unnatural sense of cruelty, he was also a man who had a deep longing to be perfect and pleasing to his family, a man who craved his father's attention, and a man with a better heart than any other character in the book. When I look at Mack I see a man with more soul and more kindness than any other person on Cannery Row. He isn't ashamed of his poverty or life as a bum, and he embraces who he is, for all of the good and bad. He goes to exhaustive lengths to give his friend, Doc, a party. He is compelled to do this because he sees what Doc does for the people of the community, and he wishes to give him something in return. That kind of spirit and gentleness cannot be bought with any amount of money. When I look at Ma, in the novel, The Grapes of Wrath; never have I read of such a strong person, male or female, who so single-handedly kept her family together. While reading the book I became disheartened at what this woman had to endure and persevere through: death, family desertion, starvation, and sickness. I was also encouraged by her. Ma was a role model of integrity, or rather, she was a reminder of the ease in which I live from day to day-she was the epitome of courage and diligence. John Steinbeck uses three seemingly different characters to convey the same message, one of hope and perseverance.
The Downfall of Camila With the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution, many individuals took this opportunity to expand their standings within society. Men sought to overthrow the tyrannical government and redistribute the land evenly amongst all Mexicans. Mariano Azuela in The Underdogs describes the adventures of a successful rebel group who undergoes a mission to eliminate Federal forces. Women, on the other hand, sought to expand their rights with society and to break the norms established. The women who decided to join the combat roles were referred to as Las Soldaderas.
Mr. Curley’s has a dream to be an important and to be a powerful factor on the ranch. Mr. Curley is greedy when it comes to possessing power over those who work on the ranch. An example of his arrogance would be when he tells Lennie, “Well, nex’ time you answer when you’re spoke too.” (Steinbeck 26). Mr. Curley talks condescendingly to the men on the ranch especially Lennie. Mr. Curley doesn’t feel like feeling in competition with other men when it comes to having power on the ranch. Curley might feel insecure about his size which is why “He hates big guys. He’s alla time picking scraps with big guys.” (Steinbeck 26), Curley almost feels intimidated by the bigger men working for him by demonstrating his power that he holds over them. He
In chapter two, George and Lennie show up to the ranch on the second day of their journey. They meet Curley, Curley’s wife, the Swamper, slim and Carlson. They are learning about the boss and the others on the ranch. George lies to the boss about why they showed up late to work and tells him the bus driver gave them a bum steer: really, George wanted to enjoy nature bit longer. They learn that Curley and the boss both wear high-heeled boots to show that they do not work. They also learn that Curley is a boxer
Power can allow one to make decisions for others than will benefit them, but too much power can cause one to become corrupt. In the novel, A Tale of Two Cities, the author, Charles Dickens, views power as a way in which corruption arises. Throughout the novel, Dickens speaks about three characters who starts to abuse their power as time passes in the novel. Dickens portrays the characters of the Monseigneur, the Marquis of Evermonde, and the revolutionaries as characters who goes through a change as a result of power.
Power helped some people in this novel by helping them do what was right. Like George, he was the new guy, the guys still accepted him because he seemed like a kind and trustworthy person. So he never really had problems with people except Curley but Curley was just that kind of person because he thought he was better than everyone else and bigger. He also had power though since his dad owned the farm he practically could do whatever he wanted so no one really wanted to mess with them because if he wanted to he could get people canned. His dad had power over everything since he owned the farm he controlled who worked there and who did not and what kind of jobs people would do. Slim had power too because he was kind of like a leader and he was a nice guy. He was also very respectful and knew where his place was and did not run into trouble since no one had a reason to mess with him. Carlson had some power to in this book when he took control and killed Candy’s dog, “I’ll put the old devil out of his misery right now and get it over with.” (47)
Many people who have power and authority have the ability to have a strong influence over the behavior of others. They show great dominance over them, and have a lot of say in their actions. And many characters demonstrate this in John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men. The novel stresses us to view the advantage power has in its characters’ actions and
He portrays that the survival of the fittest is a just rule, with using a weak character’s weakness to dominate them. In the book it is shown that you have to be physically, emotionally and mentally strong to withstand the pressures. In the story we see a character that is weaker compared to everyone on the ranch, that is Crooks. He is weak because of the color of his skin. The moment when Curley’s wife enters Crooks room and starts talking with the men, Crooks is scared that Curley himself might see them. So this leads Crooks to talk against the woman, but the woman threatens to lynch Crooks. The author illustrates the woman using a weakness such as color to threaten Crooks with “Well, you keep your place then, nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.”(p.81). This perfectly shows how in the real world a black man is not able to rebel against a woman or any other character. Steinbeck shows this as a universal truth. Crooks faults are unable to compete with a woman who is stronger than him. In other words the african american is weak and in his relationship with the woman, he is unable to compete with her as she possesses power that dominates and threatens him. Although both characters similarly face isolation and loneliness or have lost something, the
Even from the very start of John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, the uniqueness of George, as a character, is already noticeable. He is described as “small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp strong features” and has an obvious dominance over the relationship between Lennie and himself. This lets the reader know from a very early stage in the book that George is different, and probably the essential character. George’s character seems to be used by Steinbeck to reflect the major themes of the novel: loneliness, prejudice, the importance of companionship, the danger of devoted companionships, and the harshness of Californian ranch life.
Throughout “Of Mice and Men”, Steinbeck shows gripping examples of the devotion of Lennie towards George, and the loyalty of George towards Lennie. George serves as Lennie’s “guardian angel”, stays with Lennie in difficult situations, and eventually his devotion to their friendship leads George to make the ultimate sacrifice and kill his best friend as a “mercy killing” instead of letting the mob take Lennie’s life.
Next, Steinbeck uses foreshadowing when Lennie and George had a big dream to get a house on the fat of the land. George is looking out for Lennie by traveling together. They are both really good workers. Lennie loves to pet soft animals or anything that is soft, Lennie says “I like to pet nice things”. Lennie is so strong that when he pets the animals he always kills them, so now Whenever
The atmosphere of the ranch and bunkhouse was unpleasant. For example when George and Lennie arrived the first person said “ The boss was expectin’ you last night.” the old man said. “he was sore as hell when you wasn't here to go out this morning”(18). This quote explains that the boss has a temper, he was really angry. Right off the bat they were not off to a good start. Lennie and George were going to have to explain to the boss as to why they were late and hope that they don't get fired before they have even started. This next quote shows that the boss does have a temper. In the book it says “the stable buck’s a nigger.” “Nigger huh?” “Yeah. Nice fella too. Got a crooked back where a horse kicked him. The boss gives him hell when he’s
From the beginning of the story, Steinbeck uses hints that George and Lennie’s dream of getting a farm