O Mice and Tyrants

Power Relations in Of Mice and Men

Resumen

Many are the studies on the novel Of Mice and Men across the last decades (Belk; Wallendorf, 2012; Meyer, 2009; Mehmet, 2016; Ganiyeva; Rajabova, 2023; Lisca, 1956). However, we’ve decided to re-examine the issue from a fresh perspective. Norton’s Identity Theory (1997, 2000, 2013) provides a holistic framework for understanding the interplay of identity, power, investment, and imagination in the novel. Of Mice and Men is an American novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1937. The book follows the path of a pair of ranch workers, George and Lennie, while they try to find jobs in the rural lands of California during the Great Depression.The ranch workers of the novel, besides the main characters, Lennie Small and George Milton, are Candy, Slim, Crooks, Carlson, and Whit. Therefore, we do not focus our analysis on the main characters, but on the interrelationship between all novel’s characters. Power relations, discrimination, misogyny are all found in the novel and analyzed through Norton’ (1997) lenses. In conclusion, the novel depicts power in many ways between the characters. Whether due to gender, race, respect, capital or emotions, the relationships between them happen with a form of authority over the other, there being an imbalance in the way each one connects.