Of Mice & Men is a novella by John Steinbeck, is about two migrant workers who have a dream of having the perfect farm to live on. Except, one of them, Lennie, is mentally challenged and gets him & his companion into a lot of trouble. Iwould say that the central conflict in this story is character vs. society, or Lennie vs. the world because almost everyone has some sort of problem with Lennie.
First of all, Lennie has his own problem to deal with 24/7, George. George is the boss of Lennie so Lennie has to listen to him and put up with whatever George does to him. One time, George says,“You never had none, you crazy bastard. I got both 'em here. Think I'd let you carry your own work card?”(5) George is calling Lennie a bastard, then saying he is incapable of carrying his things. Now this may be true, but he could've said it a little nicer and not so harsh.
Secondly, Curley has it out for Lennie just because he's is big. Now we didn't here this directly from Curley's mouth, but the way he says things to Lennie tells us that this might be true. But later on in the book, there is a scene where everyone gangs up on Curley because he's wimping out on fighting when he picks the fights! Lennie just happened to be there, and he was smiling at a happy thought. Curley thought he was laughing at him. He says,“Come on, ya big bastard. Get up on your feet. No big son-of-a-bitch is gonna laugh at me. I'll show ya who's yella.(62) Now since Curley doesn't like big guys and Lennie is a big person, so he decided to take his anger out on Lennie because he knew Lennie wouldn't do anything back. But after a brutal beating, Lennie finally steps up, grabs Curley's fist and squishes it until every bone in his hand is broken. Lennie didn't mean to do this, but he got caught up and held onto his fist like his life depended on it. The other men had to literally beat Lennie to get him off of Curley. Although, Curley might have been very mad at Lennie because of this, he wasn't going to rat him out because then all the men would have told his secret about being a wimp against the other guys.
Lastly, Curley's wife creates another problem because she's such a slut. She joins Lennie in the barn while he is alone with a puppy. Now, Lennie likes to pat soft things like mice, rabbits, puppies, and velvet. Curley's wife has very soft hair and she doesn't know Lennie well, so she doesn't know how bad of a position she's putting her slutty self in.
First of all, Lennie has his own problem to deal with 24/7, George. George is the boss of Lennie so Lennie has to listen to him and put up with whatever George does to him. One time, George says,“You never had none, you crazy bastard. I got both 'em here. Think I'd let you carry your own work card?”(5) George is calling Lennie a bastard, then saying he is incapable of carrying his things. Now this may be true, but he could've said it a little nicer and not so harsh.
Secondly, Curley has it out for Lennie just because he's is big. Now we didn't here this directly from Curley's mouth, but the way he says things to Lennie tells us that this might be true. But later on in the book, there is a scene where everyone gangs up on Curley because he's wimping out on fighting when he picks the fights! Lennie just happened to be there, and he was smiling at a happy thought. Curley thought he was laughing at him. He says,“Come on, ya big bastard. Get up on your feet. No big son-of-a-bitch is gonna laugh at me. I'll show ya who's yella.(62) Now since Curley doesn't like big guys and Lennie is a big person, so he decided to take his anger out on Lennie because he knew Lennie wouldn't do anything back. But after a brutal beating, Lennie finally steps up, grabs Curley's fist and squishes it until every bone in his hand is broken. Lennie didn't mean to do this, but he got caught up and held onto his fist like his life depended on it. The other men had to literally beat Lennie to get him off of Curley. Although, Curley might have been very mad at Lennie because of this, he wasn't going to rat him out because then all the men would have told his secret about being a wimp against the other guys.
Lastly, Curley's wife creates another problem because she's such a slut. She joins Lennie in the barn while he is alone with a puppy. Now, Lennie likes to pat soft things like mice, rabbits, puppies, and velvet. Curley's wife has very soft hair and she doesn't know Lennie well, so she doesn't know how bad of a position she's putting her slutty self in.
“She took Lennie's hand and put it on her head. 'Feel right aroun there an see how soft it is.' Lennie's big fingers fell to stroking her hair. 'Don't you muss it up,' she said. Lennie said, 'Oh! That's nice,' and he stroked harder. 'Oh, that's nice.' 'Look out, now, you'll muss it.' And then she cried angrily, 'You stop it now, you'll mess it all up.' She jerked her head sideways, and Lennie's fingers closed on her hair and hung on...Lennie was in a panic...She screamed then, and Lennie's other hand closed over her mouth and nose...And she continued to struggle, and her eyes were wild with terror...'Don't you go yellin,' he said, and he shook her; and her body flopped like a fish. And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck.”(90-91)Now this situation is not Lennie's fault, it's Curley's wife's fault. If she wasn't so gun ho for guys other than her husband, this would have never happened. Lennie didn't know he was hurting her, he just freaked out because he didn't want to disappoint George.
In conclusion, none of these situations was Lennie the one to put the blame on. It isn't his fault he acts like that, the fact that he's big, or that they ended up on that ranch to work. Lennie is a very sensitive & unaware of his surroundings so everyone seeks him out as an easy target. Just because he's being himself and minding his own business.
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