Of Mice And Men Manipulation Analysis

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will. Of Mice and Men was an intriguing novel that had two lonely men, Lennie and George, who traveled together attempting to find a better place, to achieve their dream. Along the way, they encounter work and several other people who have major impacts on their lives. The novel suggests that power is represented differently between men and women- or woman- and above all, the novel relies on the power of physical strength and intelligent manipulation to have their way. John Steinbeck portrays the idea that men and women have different ways to prove their power and thus, manipulation was far more damaging than physical aggression, and that manipulation was frankly the only way women could gain power during the Great Depression.
Within this novel, there is a social hierarchy that is shown between the woman and men that shows their levels of power. The men have their own ways of showing their fame and glory without the use of intelligence, but instead with pure physical capabilities. …show more content…
Curley, after seeing Lennie smiling in his direction, felt as if he was being mocked, so he decided to start a fight he couldn’t finish. Lennie was actually smiling towards something else. Curley thought he was mocking his action of blaming someone for something they didn’t do. Curley thought he could take Lennie down, but even with his disability, his strength was enough. Lennie was able to stop a blow from Curley, which resulted in a broken hand: “The next minute Curley was flopping like a fish on a line, and his closed fist was lost in Lennie’s big hand” (pg 63). The force men used often resulted showing their power and dominance. This allowed men to move around on the power hierarchy due to their