Violence In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

In Thomas Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor and John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, both authors demonstrate the use of violence between characters in multiple ways. In Chapter 12 of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster describes two different ways that violence is used in literature, both of which can be found in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. In addition, both books also explore how each type of violence has a different effect on the plot and the characters. These two books are related because of their exploration of a deeper meaning of violence between two or more characters in literature and the different effects each type has.

In Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, power struggles are an evident topic in social groups, racial groups and between individuals. Lennie struggles against his ill-equipped mind’s way of viewing the world, Crooks faces discrimination because of the colour of his skin, and three separate people all experience feelings of loneliness and isolation.

“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.

Toxic masculinity. It is a hidden concept that not many men know of yet many men have internalized. It is a socially-constructed attitude that describes the male gender as violent, unemotional, dominant, and sexually aggressive. Culturally accepted ideas of manliness lead men to believe that to “be a man” one must display these horrible attributes. John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men follows the dynamic duo that is George Milton and Lennie Small as they face the Great Depression and a new job. In his novel, Steinbeck seems to represent the idea of toxic masculinity through not only the ranch workers but George and Lennie themselves. Steinbeck shows that male stereotypes and false ideas of manhood not only exist in present-day but were also present during the 1930’s. Through Steinbeck’s depiction of certain men as aggressive and strong, he proves that toxic masculinity, gender roles, and the patriarchy can affect men negatively much more than they affect women.

History is full of examples of how power affects people's behaviors towards others. Well known examples in history include Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler. Kim Jong-Il, Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein are more recent examples of the negative abuse of power. In the novella Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, a common theme throughout the story is the misuse of power. Steinbeck uses the characters Curley’s wife and Crooks to teach the reader that people who possess less power are treated in a more demeaning fashion, but also treat others the same way in search of gaining power.

“I done a bad thing. I done another bad thing (91).” In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck these “bad things” happen continuously. Do each of these instants prove that Lennie is violent? In this novel, Lennie is not a violent person because he doesn’t have mental stability, he doesn’t realize his strength, and he has never shown intentional violence.

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.”

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.

On February 27, 1902, in Salinas County, California, an American Novelist named John Steinbeck was born. He had an early appreciation for the land, in particular, California's Salinas Valley, which would be a big impact on his writing later on. Steinbeck’s life is very similar to the book he would write, Of Mice and Men, which takes place in his hometown Salinas, and also has the same theme of Steinbeck’s life. Steinbeck experienced harshness in his life, drifting out of schools for six years until he dropped out for good. There are many themes found in the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, but the most significant theme is the harshness of life, which frequently appears and develops throughout the novel.

The biggest betrayal is when you’ve always been there for someone, and then they turn around and stab you in your back. The killing of Lennie was wrong. Murder is a crime and goes against the morals of human beings. George violated Lennie’s charter of rights and freedom. He took Lennie’s right to live. There are 3 reasons to support why George shouldn’t have killed Lennie. For starters, killing is wrong, humans need companionship and isolation can lead to depression. Lennie was always there for George and he betrayed their friendship by killing and turning against him.

Violence is a major topic in Of Mice and Men, shaping the lives of both the workers on the ranch and the people of our day. Between those who are against violence, those unaware, and those bullheaded, these characters have shown multiple counts of violence, and had no good outcomes. A lesson that may be learned is that violence is not something to be used carelessly because it lead down a path of

In a gut-wrenching, heart-throbbing, emotional ending to John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, a man, George Milton, is forced to shoot his best friend, Lennie Small, because of the crime he has committed. The question is, was it the right thing to do? Did George have to shoot Lennie? Was there another way out? Of course George had to shoot Lennie. The reasons are that Lennie was hurting himself and others, George had to end this cycle of madness, and he didn’t want Lennie to suffer.

John Steinbeck uses conflict in chapter 5 of his novel Of Mice & Men. In the chapter Steinbeck uses three specific types of conflict. To begin with, Steinbeck uses the conflict of person vs. self when Lennie begins talking to Curley’s wife. “Lennie glared at her. ‘George says I ain’t to have nothing to do with you--talk to you or nothing...say I can’t tend no rabbits if I talk to you or anything’” (89) Lennie provides a conflict with himself when he starts telling Curley’s wife he can’t talk to her because he could get into trouble. In the scene Lennie says he doesn’t want to talk her multiple times therefore, Lennie knows he should not start a conversation with Curley’s wife but ends up talking to her anyway in the process. Another type of conflict used in this chapter is person vs. person.

Over the course of the novela Lennie has proven to be an increasing danger to those around him. In the past, Lennie had unwarily killed several mice with his strength. He also accidentally killed his puppy and Curley's wife. However, after each death, Lennie showed immediate remorse and extreme distress. He never intended for the death of any individual but due to his mental handicap and enormous strength, it seems to be a common occurrence. If Lennie was not prematurely killed by George the future confrontation with Curley and the other farm hands would not have ended without blood due to Lennie's incredible strength. Thus Lennie's death not only secures the safety of himself but other individuals. Lennie is a danger to those around him, although this is not a justifiable reason for euthanasia by itself, under the circumstances, it only reinforces George's decision as morally

"Well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain't even funny."