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Theme of Power in Of Mice and Men?

I have been asked to write an essay on the theme of Power in John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men, yet I am struggling to know where to begin. If anyone could offer any advice on a possible essay stucture, or main events I could talk about I would be most grateful.

Power is one of the MAIN themes of the story. It begins with who has it and who doesn't. Then it's about why? One of Steinbeck's motifs is the pairing of characters and this ties to the theme of power. I would suggest using the pairs to explore the power.

For example: Candy and his dog = pair. What does Candy signify? Why and how? How and why is he connected to his dog? What does that mean in the time/setting that Steinbeck has them in? Candy has a crippled hand and is no longer able to be a laborer, so he must rely on people's kindness, yet this world of ranchers during the depression is NOT a very kind place. What happens to Candy after the dog is killed? Does power shift at all?

I would suggest picking another pair, or even two pairs, and show how the power changes and shifts as the events unfold.

If you don't like the idea of working the pairs, then find another thing within the story that illustrates the power theme. The geography would be another motif you could look at. Steinbeck uses his settings to foreshadow, support, illustrate, move forward, and enhance his themes. So you could take three specific scenes that focus on the geography and show how Steinbeck is using the geography to demonstrate the power structure of the novel.

Finally, you could use the title of the story to connect to some of the actual story events, all tying to power, the struggle and structure of it. Find the original poem that the title references, use the stanza from the poem in your paper, that'll really impress your teacher. THAT STANZA foreshadows the entire story, you know!

Power is one of the MAIN themes of the story

It begins with who has it and who doesn't. Then...