Power In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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Pages: 4

In the book Of Mice and Men it had a lot of people show different ways people used their power against people or how it affected them. With the power that they have, most of the characters abused it. A couple characters all showed different kinds of power. Curley’s wife was a very promiscuous lady. She was always dolled up so some of the workers were very fond of her. Curley was a troublemaker, he was always picking on one of the workers. And since he was the boss's son nobody could really stick up for themselves. Now George was different, he had more of a leader type personality. He's short and always kept an eye on his friend Lennie. Curley's wife had the power to take advantage of the men that work with her husband, Curley has the power to fire certain people in a way, and George has the power to keep the dream going or to …show more content…
In the book Of Mice and Men an old man named Candy had said,“Don't tell Curley i said none of this. He'd slough me. He just don't give a damn. Won't ever get canned ‘cause his old man's the boss.” (Steinbeck 27) The quote means that people know he has the power to fire them, so they avoid any issues with Curley. This proves that Curley has the power to fire people. “ He glared coldly at George and then at Lennie. His arms gradually bent at the elbows and his hands closed into fists. He stiffened and went into a crouch. Lennie squirmed under the look and shifted his feet nervously.” (Steinbeck 25) With everybody knowing that Curley’s dad is the boss, it makes people very uncomfortable when Curley tries to mess with them knowing they can't do nothing to protect themselves. This proves that Curley has the power to say and do what he wants to the workers since he's the boss's son. With Curley being the boss's son he has the power to say and do what he wants to the workers because he knows his father won't fire him but would fire any of the workers for his