Powerlessness in Of Mice and Men Essay Example

Powerlessness. Lacking power to act; helpless. The book ‘Of Mice and Men’ there are multiple themes. The theme I thought was most important was powerless. Because that’s what the book is mainly about, failure to the dream because they are powerless.  There are three main characters that show the definition of Powerless. Crook’s, Curley’s wife, and Lennie. Each of them shows Powerlessness in a different way. Crook is physically disables, Curley’s wife is a female, Lennie is mentally challenged. 

First, Lennie shows powerlessness in many ways. For starters he is referred to as a child, and a dog. He is not able to mentally able to defend himself. Physically he is strong and able to do anything. But mentally he has the brain of a young child and he is powerless without George. For example “Like a terrier who doesn’t want to bring a ball back to his owner.” (Steinbeck 9). This shows that Lennie was powerless without George. He has the mindset of a child. He doesn’t know society's ‘Rules’. Another example is “Oh! I ain’t saying he's bright he ain’t….” (Steinback 22). Lennie was not the smartest person and because of this inability in the brain department he was powerless compared to someone like Curley. 

Another example of powerlessness is Curley’s Wife; she shows powerlessness physically in the last chapter because she was choked to death by Lennie. She was a woman in a world (at the time) when they had no say in anything she was unimportant. An example of this is “Let go” (steinbeck 91). She had no chance against Lennie. A woman who was weak and fragile, against a man who is built and strong. Another example of this is “I don’t like Culrley” (Steinback 89). She married Curley to make her mother mad. She was also a woman at that time who had expectations to marry a man. Even though she didn’t love him. 

Finally, Crook’s shows powerlessness physically because of his back, hence his nickname crooks. He is disabled and unable to move with a straight back. Causing his walking to be unbalanced. He has no way to escape and he is thus powerless. An example of this is “But Candy and Crooks were scowling down away from her eyes” (Steinback 77) Crooks could have stood up to her instead he quietly fought back. He was unable to defend himself. He is powerless. Another example of this is “You know what I can do to you? Crooks seemed to grow smaller, and he pressed himself against the wall.” (Steinback 80). This shows that again he was shut down, unable to defend himself.

Powerlessness, three characters that had shown powerlessness throughout the novel. Lennie was menatally disabled, Curley’s wife is a woman in a society where women are not a main priority, And Crook’s has a bad back and he is physically challenged. The book is about the failure of a dream. Lennie, Crooks, and Curley’s wife all failed their American dream because they had no power. They were unable to accomplish it because they were not capable. These characters were powerless.