“Power is a pedestal upon which we stand. However, pedestals are easily toppled, or stolen.” (Jonah Salazar) John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie travel to a ranch in Salinas during the great depression. They meet other people on the ranch with various degrees of power. Power constantly shifts from one character to another. Lennie kills the bosses daughter in law. In result, George is forced to kill Lennie. The message John Steinbeck is trying to convey is that power constantly shifts from one person to another. There are three pairs of characters who experience power shifts throughout the story.
The first pair of characters who experience a power shift are Curley and Lennie. At first Curley had the power. Curley has authoritative power because he’s the boss's son. This gives him power because he can pick …show more content…
Crooks is the black stable buck who lives alone in the barn. When Lennie comes into Crooks room Crooks has intellectual power of Lennie. Lennie is not the brightest bulb so Crooks takes advantage and uses his superior intellect to feel powerful. The guys of the ranch have gone into town leaving Lennie and Crooks behind. Lennie goes to the barn to play with his puppy but ends up in Crooks’ room. At first crooks tells Lennie to leave, but crooks actually wants him to stay because he is lonely. Crooks is bitter because he has to live alone. He uses Lennie’s presence in the room to make himself feel powerful. He tells Lennie that George won’t come back. He says George doesn’t want Lennie. Lennie is reduced to panic when Crooks says he may have been hurt or killed and Crooks’ face “lighted with pleasure in his torture.” (p. 71) Crooks has intellectual power over Lennie because he is smarted and can use a simple story to scare Lennie. Lennie can do nothing against Crooks because Crooks is smarter and is messing with his head. Crooks has the intellectual power over
The first pair of characters who experience a power shift are Curley and Lennie. At first Curley had the power. Curley has authoritative power because he’s the boss's son. This gives him power because he can pick …show more content…
Crooks is the black stable buck who lives alone in the barn. When Lennie comes into Crooks room Crooks has intellectual power of Lennie. Lennie is not the brightest bulb so Crooks takes advantage and uses his superior intellect to feel powerful. The guys of the ranch have gone into town leaving Lennie and Crooks behind. Lennie goes to the barn to play with his puppy but ends up in Crooks’ room. At first crooks tells Lennie to leave, but crooks actually wants him to stay because he is lonely. Crooks is bitter because he has to live alone. He uses Lennie’s presence in the room to make himself feel powerful. He tells Lennie that George won’t come back. He says George doesn’t want Lennie. Lennie is reduced to panic when Crooks says he may have been hurt or killed and Crooks’ face “lighted with pleasure in his torture.” (p. 71) Crooks has intellectual power over Lennie because he is smarted and can use a simple story to scare Lennie. Lennie can do nothing against Crooks because Crooks is smarter and is messing with his head. Crooks has the intellectual power over