“ Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” ( Lord Action) This quote gives a clear explanation to power and how power is used in the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. The book Of Mice and Men is set in the 1930s down in the south. Things happening during this time are the Great Depression, Adolf Hitler is rising to power in Germany, and Joe Louis and African American boxer was leading the stage in boxing, also during this time segregation was still very big especially in the south where this story takes place. The 1930s is when the Ku Klux Klan ruled the south lynching blacks and giving them the terrible oppression that is still seen sometimes today. In this book George and Lennie move from Weed to work on a ranch.
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Curley is in charge of the ranch. In this book Lennie is told by George not to talk with Curley because George is afraid that Curley will try to prove his dominance towards Lennie or even try to fight him. This happens in the book Curley tries to get Lennie talk but George demands no. Curley exclaimed “By Christ he 's gotta talk when he is spoken to” ( Steinbeck 25). Curley is not a very nice guy as show in this quote. Curley uses his power as head of the ranch operations to almost oppress the people that shamefully work under him. As in this quote Curley is telling Lennie that he must talk. This shows the power Curley has over everybody else there. This is shown another time also when Curley says “ well, next time you answer when spoke to” (Steinbeck 26). When Curley says stuff like this he is trying to get it into their heads that he is the boss and he is who you listen to. Curley very much abuses his power almost treating his workers as slaves and he is the master. To tell someone you must answer shows the power given to him. That is only what someone like a police officer or judge both of which are people that are privileged with high authority should say. This topic brings up the question, well is Curley 's wife really as bad as he …show more content…
She shows her power through her beauty and also by her higher social class like Curley. Curley 's wife is a very flirtatious woman. She flirts with all the guys when Curley is not around. It does not become apparent until late in the book that Curley 's wife does not like Curley oddly enough, one might wonder why she would marry him then. It was so she could get away from her home. She shows her power when she says to Crooks, a african american field worker. “ well you keep your place then nigger, I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain 't even funny” ( Steinbeck 82). This quote shows her dominance over the others that she has much like Curley. She is referring to that she could get Crooks lynched so easy that it is not funny. If he did not cooperate with her she could say something like Crooks assaulted her and then even though she lied there would be a harsh punishment for Crooks possibly even being lynched. Another way that she shows her power is through her flirting with the guys. She explains “ He says he was gonna put me in the movies. Says I was a natural” (Steinbeck Ch. 5). When Curley 's wife says this she is trying to get the attention of one of the guys. She liked talking big like Curley did,but she was more manipulating with it. She would wear beautiful clothing just to try and get a reaction out of the guys and as stated she would always flirt
Curley is in charge of the ranch. In this book Lennie is told by George not to talk with Curley because George is afraid that Curley will try to prove his dominance towards Lennie or even try to fight him. This happens in the book Curley tries to get Lennie talk but George demands no. Curley exclaimed “By Christ he 's gotta talk when he is spoken to” ( Steinbeck 25). Curley is not a very nice guy as show in this quote. Curley uses his power as head of the ranch operations to almost oppress the people that shamefully work under him. As in this quote Curley is telling Lennie that he must talk. This shows the power Curley has over everybody else there. This is shown another time also when Curley says “ well, next time you answer when spoke to” (Steinbeck 26). When Curley says stuff like this he is trying to get it into their heads that he is the boss and he is who you listen to. Curley very much abuses his power almost treating his workers as slaves and he is the master. To tell someone you must answer shows the power given to him. That is only what someone like a police officer or judge both of which are people that are privileged with high authority should say. This topic brings up the question, well is Curley 's wife really as bad as he …show more content…
She shows her power through her beauty and also by her higher social class like Curley. Curley 's wife is a very flirtatious woman. She flirts with all the guys when Curley is not around. It does not become apparent until late in the book that Curley 's wife does not like Curley oddly enough, one might wonder why she would marry him then. It was so she could get away from her home. She shows her power when she says to Crooks, a african american field worker. “ well you keep your place then nigger, I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain 't even funny” ( Steinbeck 82). This quote shows her dominance over the others that she has much like Curley. She is referring to that she could get Crooks lynched so easy that it is not funny. If he did not cooperate with her she could say something like Crooks assaulted her and then even though she lied there would be a harsh punishment for Crooks possibly even being lynched. Another way that she shows her power is through her flirting with the guys. She explains “ He says he was gonna put me in the movies. Says I was a natural” (Steinbeck Ch. 5). When Curley 's wife says this she is trying to get the attention of one of the guys. She liked talking big like Curley did,but she was more manipulating with it. She would wear beautiful clothing just to try and get a reaction out of the guys and as stated she would always flirt