Love and Violence in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men Essay

“Wha’s the matter with me?’ she cried. ‘Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody? Whatta they think I am, anyways?” (Steinbeck 87) In the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Curley’s wife is discriminated against because she is a woman living in the 1930s when few females could live economically independent of men. By choosing not to name her, Steinbeck reinforces her insignificance on the ranch and her dependence on Curley. While a misfortunate victim of isolation, Curley’s wife exerts unexpected power attempting to mask her pain.

“Killing is not so easy as the innocent believe.” J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. An innocent person would not understand if it is hard to kill someone or not, they have not been put in a position that they have had to kill someone. The innocent just automatically assumes that the killer is guilty, but what if he/she did it out of self defense or respect for others. And the innocent would not understand if it was hard or easy. It's just easier to assume that everyone that kills is cold blooded and that it was easy for them, then to try and understand the background. For instance, in Of Mice and Men by John steinbeck, Lennie killing Curley's wife, Lennie does not understand what he does and how it affects others.

Carlson shot his dog because he was old and stunk. “When they can't use me here I wisht somebody'd shoot me but they won't do nothing like that. I won't have no place to go, and I can't get no more jobs” 1Candy says (222-223). When his dog was shot he was upset and went back to the room, laid back and stared at the ceiling. When George told Candy his plans of leaving and living on the fat of the land, Candy wanted to join him and Lennie, he put a generous amount of money they needed in order to leave. That’s why Candy is seen as a weak character because of how he handled these specific situations.

In the 3 pieces Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare, and Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim, experiencing hatred causes characters to lie to people they love. In all of the stories, they are manipulated and forced through hatred to lie about who they are, what they are doing, or what something is. Lennie in Of Mice and Men is forced to lie about who he is, Romeo and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet have to lie about their marriage due to a feud, and in Into the Woods, the Baker and his wife lie about beans and what they do to steal from a child. In these 3 pieces, hate impacts love for others by the characters’ experience of hate forcing them to lie to the people they love.

During 1929, the Great Depression became the event that shook America. People lost their jobs, which resulted in unemployment and homelessness. Hobos and “Okies” tried moving to California did not accept the jobless migrations because they feared their opportunities for success would be lost. In Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men several characters experience cruelty because society outcasts them. These characters include Lennie, Candy, and Crooks. Of the three characters, Crooks has the least opportunity for success because he's African-American and handicap.

Violence plays a key part in John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice And Men, and there must be a reasoning behind this. In this essay I will pick apart some of the acts of violence that feature in the book, and try to explore why Steinbeck has included each one, how it develops the novel, the characters in it and helps him convey the key themes or messages he wishes to incorporate in his “valley of the world.”

After the Great Depression, many things changed, different\\ genders and races were all treated differently. Blacks and white women were forced to be outcast in the world, women belonged in the house and blacks did not belong anywhere. In the book Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck portrays perfectly of how blacks and women were separated from everyone else with Curley’s wife and Crooks, the black stable hand. Curley’s wife and Crooks are alike in many ways; in their loneliness, the way they are separated from everyone else and how they get out casted from everything, discriminated against during the time period; which helps show how blacks and women were treated during this time period of life.

He knows that he has given up the life of a free man. He knows that he

Page 53: Whenever Curley’s wife is brought up, the scene becomes very secretive, negative, and scandalous. What Whit said about Curley and his wife struck a chord with me. She looks for him to avoid him and he looks for her to check to see if she’s cheating or something. I wonder if Lennie knows anything.

Candy confides in George and shares his regret of not killing his dog himself, “‘I oughtta shot the dog myself, George’” (61). Candy doesn’t want to shoot the dog, but later regrets not having the courage to do so, seeing it as it was his responsibility. This relates to George also because George learned from this that he should be the one to shoot Lennie. After fighting and crushing Curley’s hand, Lennie explains, “‘I didn’t wanta hurt him,’” (64) Lennie shows that he only defended himself. This is the same as when Lennie didn’t mean to kill Curley’s Wife. Pain appears in this dispassionate of others.

John Steinbeck, an American novelist, is well-known for his familiar themes of depression and loneliness. He uses these themes throughout a majority of his novels. These themes come from his childhood and growing up during the stock market crash. A reader can see his depiction of his childhood era. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck shows the prominent themes of loneliness, the need for relationships, and the loss of dreams in the 1930s through the novels’ character.

In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, many themes come up often throughout the story, especially the theme about bonds between two people. The novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck expresses theme of Friendship through various literary elements. Friendship is people that care for and respect each other. It is the link that makes people stick together through the struggles of life. This essay will prove that friendship is important in life.

I think George proved just how much he cared about Lennie at the end of the story when he shot Lennie in the back of the head by the creek.  George made the ultimate sacrifice in killing Lennie and putting himself in the position that he feared the most which is being along.  George knew if anybody else found Lennie, especially Curley, they would have made Lennie suffer to pay for killing Curley’s wife.  It was interesting what happened earlier with Old Candy and his dog being put to sleep.  Old Candy seemed just as upset about not shooting the dog himself as losing the dog.  “I should have done it myself”, Old Candy said near the end of the book.  Maybe George learned from that.  George believed the right thing was for somebody who cared about Lennie to end his life no matter how much it hurt.

Curley’s wife has instigated Lennie. She didn’t have to let him pet her hair, and she knew that she wasn’t allowed to talk to the farm hands. Lennie is not as mentally capable as she is, this amplifies their conflict even more. Lennie is internally conflicted as well, because he knows that he should not be petting her hair, however his mental capacity wants him to pet the hair because of his dream with the bunnies. This creates the conflict between Lennie and Curley's wife because they are both doing something they know they should not be a part of. Lennie’s rash character then makes the situation worse, because she starts screaming because of his rash decision to pet her hair, Being in Crooks room, “Curley's wife laughed. ‘O.K. Machine. I’ll talk to you later. I like machines”

The parallels between Lennie and George’s relationship and the relationship that their workmate, Candy had with his dog reaffirm the power dynamic between George and Lennie. In the novella, Candy must kill his dog because it is old and weak. Candy felt such extreme regret when it came time to kill his dog, that instead of doing