Violence In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

On pages 63 to 65, Lennie struggles internally over his own unrealized strength. After Lennie crushed Curley’s hand, Lennie sat cowering in the corner. He’s scared that he did something wrong but he never meant to hurt Curley. He only fought back because George told him to. George and Slim assured George that it wasn’t his fault and that he didn’t do a bad thing. On pages 44 to 48, Candy undergoes a personal struggle. When Carlson tells him that his dog is old and suffering and should be put down, Candy does not want to give up his dog. After Slim agreed that Candy’s dog should be put down on page 45, “Candy looked helplessly at him, for Slim’s opinions were law.” After being defeated by Carlson’s reasonable argument, Candy finally forces himself to give up his dog, knowing that he won’t have to suffer any more.

The harsh reality is one which hit everyone in America in the 1930. People found work hard to find and crime was on the uprise. This meant, unfortunately, that innocent people were the easy prey and, as we see in the Of Mice and Men, there were plenty of characters that were easy prey. Of Mice and Men characters have and do thing that make them vulnerable in way which do cause trouble. In this essay, that harsh reality and easy prey will be shown through to see which characters are the most vulnerable.

It is known fact that extreme gender roles can be psychologically harmful and Steinbeck’s character Curley is a testament to this. Society in the novel believed that men are supposed to be strong and tall however Curley is none of these. He feels so pressured by society to look and act a certain way and so he resents men who are taller and is always trying to fight people who he does not match up to. The patriarchal system led Curley to feel the need to display his dominance and resort to violence. Candy describes

Lennie and Candy’s dog are parallel. Candy’s dog is old, stinky, it cant take care of itself and he’s useless. Lennie cant take care of himself of others, and when he gets scared he holds on to whatever hes got. Candy’s dog had to be put down, just like Lennie. They were also killed the same way. “If you want me to, I’ll put the old devil out of his misery right now and get it over with. Ain’t nothing left for him. Can’t eat, can’t see, can’t even walk without hurtin’” (48). In this scene Carlson took Candy’s dog out and shot him. Though Candy did not want his dog to be dead, he still went through with it. This is just like when George went to kill Lennie, he didn’t want too but it had to be

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.

In Of Mice and Men, the Steinbeck theme of bullying and cruelty are demonstrated through the relationships of the farm workers, how they talk to each other and treat each other. It is contrasted by the accidental violence of George. Steinbeck makes it seem almost

The characters’ fates in the novel develop individually through separate journeys all controlled by power. The scene depicting Carlson influencing Candy to let him kill his dog represents the idea of power, and the concept of the characters’ journeys with power. Candy is an old man, and because of this, he does not have a powerful position in the social structure on the ranch. Carlson and Slim have power over him because of their younger age and physical abilities. Slim agreed with Carlson’s idea and had the last word on the matter when the book states, “Slim’s opinions were law” (45). Candy knows that he does not have any power over the situations or even himself as he becomes obsolete on the ranch. The dog symbolises Candy and represents the end of Candy’s life journey and the loss of power and worth due to old age when Slim states, “I wisht somebody’ed shoot me if I got old and’ a cripple” (45). The idea that Candy has no power over himself because of his social status and

“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.

Because Lennie is confused he grabs her hair and tries to make her stop yelling. But because Lennie does not know how to control his own strength, he squeezes Curley’s wife’s neck too hard and crushes her spine. Lennie then flees the ranch because Curley wants to kill him for what he did to his wife. So Lennie is not brutally murdered by Curley, George finds Lennie and, because he cannot get him out of trouble, shoots Lennie. Lennie’s uncontrollable strength and ignorance destroyed his, George and Candy’s dream

In Of Mice And Men, violence affects every character in some way, whether they are the instigators or victims of it. Two characters who are developed through their involvement in acts of violence are Lennie and Curley. The fight between them is a major event in the book, and whilst both are fighting, the fight highlights the contrast between them. Curley’s actions are described with aggressive verbs - “slashed,” “attacked” - whilst Lennie’s are described with passive, innocent verbs that seem to fit his character. This choice of words for Lennie shows that whilst his attacks do far more damage than any of Curley’s he doesn’t deliberately use his power or strength for this purpose. The action that eventually crushes Curley’s hand is described as “reaching.” This can show the reader that Lennie’s instinctive reaction when he’s afraid is to “reach” or grab onto something, like he did with the girl’s dress in Weed, and does

Once again, Lennie finds himself in trouble, when he killed Curley’s wife. He remembers what George told him, “...I want you to come right here an’ hide in the brush” (Chapter 1). That is exactly what Lennie does, he runs straight to the camping spot. When everyone finally sees Curley’s wife dead, they all know who it was and set out to kill him. George sets out as well to see if he can reach Lennie before the rest of the men. “I oughtta of shot that dog myself, George, I shouldn't oughtta of let no stranger shoot my dog” (Chapter 3). That is what Candy said to George after Carlson shot his dog. “George… reached in his side pocket and brought out Carlson’s Luger…” (Chapter 6) This is when George finally reaches Lennie and decides to go ahead and put him out of his own misery, so he shoots him. John Steinbeck uses foreshadowing by clearly using Candy’s dog to represent Lennie’s

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.

Like Candy, Candy’s dog is faced with the ultimate punishment for his age and disability. Candy’s dog is old and said to smell bad and isn’t worth anything, the dog is shot because of its disabilities. This event foreshadows Lennie’s fate at the hand of George. Both of these characters’ euthanasia is rationalized to put them out of their misery and to prevent future suffering from happening due to their disabilities. Which is almost a mirror image of George and Lennie’s relationship where George has known Lennie for a considerable amount of time and George knows that he is completely responsible of Lennie’s well-being and when that well-being is in jeopardy George feels a moral obligation just like Candy did when he gave permission to Carlson to shoot his dog. The euthanizing of Candy’s dog is a “foreshadowing of what will happen with Lennie and George” (Thomas Scarseth) because both Candy and George’s relationship to those dependent to them end with them killing them in order to save them from suffering.

‘come on, George, me an’ you’ll go in an’ get a drink.’” One gets the

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