Of Mice and Men? Power and Powerlessness?

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Crooks is representative of racism and isolation, as he is disrespected and treated as sub human because he is black, so you could start by saying that racism is a big part of Crooks being powerless and 'mean' because of the way society has treated him. Slim is portrayed as quite a powerful character because religious imagery is used ("ageless face", like God, perhaps) as well as light imagery whenever he comes into a room it is sometimes described as lighting up. He wears a Stetson hat, showing authority and power. There's loads of quotes from various characters showing how Slim has authority, for example a character says "Noone knows what Slim can do", or something along those lines. Lennie is powerless in a sense that he can't control how he reacts (his fight with Curley) and has to turn to George to know what to do. He is also described in a sort of subhuman way, using animal imagery at the beginning of the novel with "bear paws" etc. The novel has a circular structure, beginning and ending with descriptions of 'paradise', but at the end because Lennie is dead, it shows the brutality of life in the depression that however much you try, dreams can fail and you can end up worse off than when you started to show that there isn't a way of getting out of it. There's plenty to go at, and they are a few ideas to start you off. I hope this helps! I've been studying the book for the best part of a year for GCSE so hopefully this will give you an idea of what to do for your mind

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