The Role Of Conflict In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

The story “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck is one of the winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature. “Of Mice and Men” is about two characters George and Lennie. George is very smart, but short. Lennie on the other hand is the complete opposite. He is big and has a mind of a child. In “Of Mice and Men” George and Lennie have a dream to own a piece of land somewhere in California. In this story Lennie is being made sympathetic by Steinbeck so, then the story is more relatable. Steinbeck is doing this by showing Lennie to have some mental problems and also to make him act like a child in a manly ranch in California.

“So you forgot that awready, did you? I gotta tell you again , do I ? Jesus christ, you're a crazy bastard!” George says (4-5). You can infer that the two characters have some issues with each other. In Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck shows the weaknesses that most of the characters have and the trials they face with those weaknesses. The characters such as Lennie, Crooks and Candy all have something that happens to them in the story that brings out their weaknesses. John Steinbeck portrays the effects that weak people reveal through the characters Lennie, Crooks and Candy.

It was 1937, and the Great Depression was almost over; unemployment was higher than ever. Many people were seeking jobs and in the novel, Of Mice and Men, Lennie Small was one of them. The author John Steinbeck’s portrayal of Lennie helps one understand what it is like to be mentally challenged. Steinbeck does this by highlighting Lennie’s strength, naiveness, and caring nature. Steinbeck succeeded in teaching the reader of the social aspect of being mentally challenged.

Finally, John Steinbeck shows off the bullying and meanness as intentional and contrasts it to Lennie’s unintentional meanness, such as when he hurts the puppy (pg 85), the mouse (pg 5), and kills Curley’s wife (pg 91). When Curley wants to fight it is intentional and violent. George explains Lennie’s violence when he says that Lennie "never done it in meanness" (pg 104). Lennie kills because he does not know his own strength – he cuddles or loves to hard. Also, he panics and reacts without thought, such as when he pulled the woman’s dress. (pg 41) Also, showing a contrast in motive is that Lennie is so upset by what he has done, especially to Curley’s wife. He is the only one who shows real remorse.

In this novel John Steinbeck used a lot of allusions to help develop characters. The allusion being used to develop Lennie’s character is when Curley and he are fighting. Lennie and Curley are being described as David and Goliath. Lennie is strong and big like Goliath. Curley is small like David. In the end Curley defeats Lennie, just like David defeats Goliath. This allusion showed the character trait of strong and big. Another literary device used in this novel is a simile. “ Slowly, like a terrier who doesn’t want to bring a ball to its master, Lennie approached, drew back, approached again”(Steinbeck 9). This shows that Lennie is very unsure and nervous.

Have you ever dreamed of becoming someone important or doing something exciting and memorable? Would you give up or refuse to let go of your dream until you achieve it? Has that obsessive under-minded your success? Many people have dreams that they want to accomplish, but there are obstacles individuals have to cross over in order to achieve their goals, such as facing reality. In the book of Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, the story is a tale of two drifters working from farm to farm, trying to make a living, and save some money to have their own place someday, which is their dream during the Great Depression. The characters face the hardships

Over the years, the societal norms for people have changed. This is mainly due to the influence of different people’s thinking during that time. The type of thinking in the 1930’s can be seen in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. This book can be defined as a political statement due to it’s insights on people's values during the time. Therefore, Of Mice and Men portrays the stereotypes in society with social commentary on the way women, minorities, and people with mental disabilities were viewed on the 1930’s; as seen through characters: Curley’s Wife, Crooks and Lennie.

In conclusion, Lennie had problems he couldn’t fix and it lead to his

Lennie’s brute strength is one of the key elements in how Steinbeck foreshadows pivotal events in the novel. Firstly, George recounts the time where Aunt Clara gave Lennie pet mice in their younger days and George would “pinch their heads” and unfortunately die (page 11). Secondly, Lennie is sent to go pick up branches to fuel the fire (page 12). Thirdly, in the fight between Curley and Lennie, Curley’s hand is crushed by Lennie’s. Fourthly, the puppy dying from being petted too hard by Lennie and finally, Curley’s wife being killed through a broken spinal cord. These events support the idea that Lennie’s brute strength is his undoing and therefore proves that Steinbeck uses Lennie’s strength to foreshadow key events due to the fact that he harms nearly everything he touches and in most cases, he unintentionally kills it. This therefore gives a dark tone to the novel, with the constant theme of death lingering at every key event.

Abraham Lincoln once said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” Power can bring out the evil in anyone. At one point, most people have faced adversity through the social standings made by a society. But when someone who has faced adversity through social standings has the chance of power by using social standings they take it. Even if they have been on the other side before and hated it.

He kept a mouse inside his pocket and when he took it out dead he couldn’t comprehend it. At the barn he got the puppy and he tried to sneak it into his bunk but got caught by George. Lennie knows he shouldn’t be doing that because George gets mad but he does it any way. Then later in the barn when Lennie is playing with the puppy and it died then Lennie said “Why do you got to get killed?”(pg.85)Lennie doesn’t understand he is bringing harm and actually killing these animals. As the novel goes on the things he is killing just get bigger and bigger. Lennie doesn’t understand the strength he has. He broke Curley’s hand just by blocking it. Lennie went to touch Curley’s wife's hair and he snapped her neck and die instantly. He doesn’t realize what he can do and when he did these things he never meant to harm anyone so he is a danger and has to have eyes on him at all

Lennie posed a big threat to everyone’s safety because he could not control himself or his strength. Lennie couldn’t understand how to let go or be gentle, he didn’t know his own strength. He had killed mice, crushed Curley’s hand, killed a puppy, then finally killed Curley’s wife. All of these things Lennie

Lennie has a good heart, but there is another side to his personality. He has a mental disability and is unaware of when he is causing harm to others. Several of Lennie’s crimes are mentioned in the book, the worst ending in the death of Curley’s wife. After killing Curley’s wife, Lennie seems bewildered and whispers, “I done a bad thing. I done another bad thing” (Steinbeck 473). Lennie’s ill-behaved actions are nothing new to him; however, he never learns his lesson. George is always pulling Lennie out of the holes Lennie digs for himself. There is nothing George can do to help Lennie this time; he commits a sickening crime. What if Lennie continues to injure others and can’t be controlled? Lennie is a dangerous, powerful criminal, and George is able to end the possibility of another life being damaged or

Lennie is a very unitelligent man with lots of strength, and he is only living the way he is used to which causes him to experience isolation. He doesn't remember much other than a future dream of him tending rabbits on a farm. His best friend, George, takes care of him. He also kills Curley's wife because he was told to

Curley picked a fight with Lennie. “Curley's fist was swinging when Lennie reached for it. The next minute Curley was flopping like a fish on a line, and his closed fist was lost in Lennie's big hand.”(Steinbeck 120) This affected Lennie because he was so frightened of what was happening that he didn’t do anything until George told him to fight back. Now everyone is scared of what Lennie could do now that he single handedly crushed Curley’s hand. Curley’s wife flirted with Lennie which lead to him killing her. “He lifted her arm and let it drop. For a moment he seemed bewildered. And then he whispered in fright, ‘I done a bad thing. I done another bad thing.’“(Steinbeck 157) This made Lennie flee to their shrub because he knew that they would come for him and try to kill him. If she never came over to flirt with the man that broke her husband’s hand they would both be alive. George affected Lennie by being the one that took his life. “ Lennie begged, ‘Le's do it now. Le's get that place now.’“(Steinbeck 187) They had a chance to run away just like they ran from Weed. But, George didn’t want to keep running away because of Lennie’s mistakes so he killed his only family so Lennie wouldn’t have to suffer anymore. Lennie was affected the harshest due to these characters