Power and Powerlessness Lust for power can be the driving factor of pain and suffering to many people as they assert their control with little regard for the consequences and ramifications for their actions. Such ideas are toyed with in Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men (OMaM) in which the text explores the plight of individuals who willingly suffer at the hand of unfair power dichotomies due to the all pervasive allure of the American dream as seen with the eventual collapse of Lenny and George's dream of owning a ranch. Manipulation over another human can be used for their own benefit but is used in the novella as a way to protect the manipulated person. It is immediately apparent that George takes a parental roll in his relationship with Lennie. The sentence "Give it here!"
The novel shows you how the colour of your skin, of being crippled and jealously can the reason you end up alone and on your own. One of the most important human emotions is friendship. Without friendship or company of others, people would suffer and become lost and drown in their world of unhappiness. Characters in the novel are envious towards Lennie and George, as they own a strong bond of friendship while the others dream of obtaining this kind of company and companionship. All the characters suffer with unhappiness in their lives because none of them can escape the misery of being on their own.
Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you. I tell ya,’ he cried, ‘I tell ya a guy get’s too lonely an’ he gets sick” (69). Crooks’ illustrates that his lack of companionship manifests itself physically and emotionally. The only alleviation of these symptoms for Crooks occurs when he offers to work on Candy, George, and Lennie’s farm (Steinbeck 76). Similarly, Curley’s wife seeks out other people as a way to cope with her loneliness.
True to George’s original estimation, he will go through his life alone. Another character who suffers from loneliness is Curley’s wife. It is her sexuality that causes her loneliness. All the men on the ranch try to avoid her because they believe that women are always the cause of trouble. She longs to have someone to talk to, yet she gets restricted by her brutish husband.
You get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out.’ ” George starts getting sick and tired of having to run place to place just to end up somewhere where they will be told what to do, and where Lennie will get into more trouble. George’s vexation with this never-ending dilemma, caused by Lennie, leads George to fabricate a dream of Lennie and himself living off their own land without anyone to tell them what to do, as stated on pages 57 and 58; “ ‘We’d jus’ live there. We’d belong there. There wouldn’t be no more runnin’ round the country … we’d
Lennie is mentally weak, George can’t reach his dream, and Curley resents being a smallish man and has napoleon complex. Weakness is simply a reality for everyone who lives on the ranch. On a ranch full of strong men, weakness is not really accepted, and people get criticized because of it. Because characters often know their weaknesses, they’re quick to try to cover for them, which spell confrontation. It’s a like bullying, characters weaknesses makes them feel insecure about themselves, so they fight and judge others to avoid having their flaws seen by
When Lenny visits Crooks, Crooks says a few things that verify his loneliness and how much he wishes he could be accepted. ‘Books ain't no good. A guy needs somebody - to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody.’ This quote shows how being black has affected Crooks, because he has nobody to turn to. Although this shouldn’t be the case, just by the colour of his skin Crooks is leading a miserable life.
He feels it his obligation to protect her form a potential broken heart: “The canker galls the infants of the spring Too oft before their buttons be disclosed,” (I, III, 39-40) implying that Hamlet, as the canker, may ruin her before she ‘blossoms’. He does see her as an innocent girl but thinks that without his help she may become corrupt: “The chariest maid is prodigal enough, If she unmask her beauty to the moon,” (I, III, 36-37). Ophelia, agreeing with her innocent nature, willingly agrees to his advice saying, “I shall th’effect of this good lesson keep,” (I, III, 45). Polonius sees Ophelia as a mere object; telling her to be careful of her relationship with Hamlet as people may, “tender [him] as a fool,” (I, III, 109). From this single statement we can infer that Polonius cares more for his own credibility than the happiness for his daughter; he values his judgement of Hamlet over the love Ophelia may have for Hamlet.
Of Mice and Men Setting On a broader scale, it’s important that the action takes place during the Great Depression. Accordingly, the people that populate this novella are mostly all poor and desperate for work. Because of the poverty and general tough times caused by the Depression, the characters have good reason to be suspicious and distrusting of each other, feeling that there isn’t enough food, money, and work to go around. If you wanted to think creatively, this air of distrust and isolation is central to the American Depression and seems to be a set piece in this work. The friendship between Lennie and George seems all the more remarkable set against this backdrop, and the end of the friendship means that distrust and isolation will
When members of society are discriminated, they start to develop feelings of loneliness which affect their self-esteem and general self worth. Crooks, the African American was discriminated due to his race which caused him to be seen as a lonely, bitter, quiet individual, the insecurity that possessed Curley’s wife caused her to be seen as a superficial, flirtatious female character but readers learnt that loneliness caused this persona and Candy who had only one companionship experienced solitude due to the loss of his dog and because of being an elder, disabled worker. Often in our society, we are discriminated due to our physical characteristics, race and genders; this makes us vulnerable to the feeling of loneliness. To overcome this, we need to seek companionship in someone who will make us feel accepted and