Gender Roles In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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As Wole Soyinka once said, “Power is domination, control, and therefore a very selective form of truth which is a lie.” Of Mice and Men was written by John Steinbeck. Steinbeck’s novella is a story about the friendship and dreams of owning a farm of Lennie Small and George Milton. While working on a small ranch in Soledad, California, they face obstacles of solitude, sacrifice, and temptation. In the early 1930s, certain groups were usually on the bottom of power structures. Crooks, Curley’s wife, and Lennie can be viewed through the power lens in order to illustrate how women, blacks, and other minorities had hardly any authority and influence in society. As the only black character in the novella, Crooks had almost no power within the ranch’s power structure. The other men physically abused him while Crook’s wife did so emotionally. This not only pushed …show more content…
One person that she has a substantial amount of control over is Crooks. Because he is a black man, no one would take his word over his. Therefore, when she says to him, “Well, you keep your place then, nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy, it ain’t even funny.” (81) it further illustrates how with just one word she could command her husband to murder him. Curley is wrapped around her finger, and she has such a large amount of power over him that he would kill another human for her. Another example of her power is her physical appearance which appeals to Lennie. George is extremely worried and almost afraid that Lennie will do something that causes them to become fired, or worse killed. George tells Lennie, “Don’t you ever look at that bitch.” Her red dress and curly hair cause reminiscents of the girl in Weed, which scares George. This exemplifies how a woman’s power is in her appeal to men. She combines her sex appeal and her husband's position of power in order to exert control over the ranch
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