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How Does Steinbeck Show Strength In Of Mice And Men

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The topic of strength and weakness is discussed widely through literature and media. One literature piece that does this best is John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men. Steinbeck’s use of motifs in the novella Of Mice and Men reveals the theme of strength and weakness. One of the motifs that is constantly being discussed is that people with strength will always take advantage over the weak. An example of this would be Curley starting a fight with Lennie as he says, “Come on ya big bastard”. Get up on your feet” (Steinbeck, 69). Curley picks a fight with Lennie, knowing that he is mentally weak, takes advantage of that to try to beat him up. Even though Curley loses, his actions show how people with strength will take advantage of the weak to benefit themselves. Additionally, …show more content…

An example of this is when they decide to kill Candy’s dog, when Carlson says, “I’ll put the old devil out of his misery right now” (Steinbeck, 52). Candy’s dog was the embodiment of weakness as he was struggling physically since he was blind and he was hurting when he was doing simple things like walking. The death of Candy’s dog emphasizes how the ranch has always favored things that have strength rather than weakness. Another example that illustrates this motif is towards the end of the book, describing Lennie’s death as, “The crash of the shot rolled up the hills. Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward” (Steinbeck, 117). Throughout the novella, Lennie was considered to be one of the many things representing weakness because of his mental capabilities. Similar to the death of Candy’s dog, Lennie’s death highlights how eventually, someone who has strength in certain areas will always replace those who are weak. One motif that was constantly explored was those representing weakness, such as Candy’s dog and Lennie will always perish in favor of

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