In Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck the power struggle is seen through the way none of the characters ever seem to win. The characters are surrounded by an atmosphere of strength but, some of the characters are not. George has an almost natural power that he dictates to Lennie and the residents at the ranch respect him for this. Lennie on the other hand, has a strange type of power that is different to George. Lennie is a tall character who is very powerful. However Lennie is seemingly lost without George and lacks power when George is not around. When George is not there, Lennie sits back and does nothing. Slim is a character that is one of the most influential of all the characters at the ranch. He is very strong and influential, but he is also humble which makes him sincere. In Mice and Men it talks about how "Slim doesn't have to wear high heeled boots to say he wasn't a working man." There is an ongoing power struggle in the ranch between the characters which makes it not a very nice place to be. Sometimes the characters rebel and fight for domination over each other. Each character struggles to be friendly with one another all the time.
There are a few things you can look at here:
Power struggle between individuals. What kind of power dynamic do you see between Curley and Slim? Curley and Lennie? Curley and his wife?
Power struggle between social groups: What do Curley's wife's interactions with the men/her husband say about power in terms of gender? What does the relationship between Crooks and the rest of the men say about race and power?
Power struggle between farm owners and migrant workers. This was a big theme in Steinbeck's writing, so you have a lot of material to work with. Think back to what you know about the Depression and migrant work. What gives the bosses power to treat their workers so poorly? Why don't the men just quit?
The element of power is shown within a hierarchy on the working men's ranch in John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice...