Of Mice and Men

The book, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, is about two men named George and Lennie who are living in the time of the Great Depression. They travel together and after they get themselves into trouble in the city of Weed, they moved to work on a ranch. There is also a movie, "Of Mice and Men," that is based off of the book. There are many themes in the story, one of them being power. The movie differs slightly from the book in the fact that it has fewer examples showing the importance of power, unlike the book where there are many instances of power.

First off, power is shown, or in some instances not shown, in the characters. In both the book and the movie, George has a certain power over Lennie. He acts as his father: reprimanding him, protecting him, and telling him what to do for his own good like a normal father would have. A second character that supports the theme of power in the book and movie is Lennie. Although he doesn't have a lot of logical power, he is a very physically powerful person in the movie and book. He's tall, strong built, and just all around a big guy that can do a tremendous amount of physical labor. Another similarity between the book and movie relating to power is Curly, the boss's son. He's a very small man that likes to order people around and has the reputation of beating up bigger guys. Even though there are multiple examples of characters showing power in both the book and movie, there is an example of when the movie makes the theme less relevant to the story. In the book, Lennie has the power to remember to go to the brush, where George told him to go if he got into any trouble. But, in the movie, it was so that Lennie was lost and couldn't find the brush. It made Lennie seem more vulnerable and with less logical power than in the book where he proved himself, aside from his challenges