The scene begins here. He starts this fight as Curley does not like people bigger than himself. Firstly when Curley hits Lennie he cowers and curls up in the corner and was beaten until he was bleeding all over his face and body, it’s at this point where George tells Lennie to start fighting back because Lennie could be killed. This scene is very dramatic mainly because Lennie is a nice person being beaten up, maybe it is dramatic because fighting is dramatic, everyone has different views of the situation but the writer's intention here is to show how the ranch workers turned to violence, in this case probably because they were bored. There is actually no reason for Curley to just come up to Lennie to start a fight is unlikely but maybe Curley thought of Lennie as a threat to him or his wife.
This fear of being lonely after being fired ultimately leads him to join George and Lennie’s dream of owning a piece of land. Eg: Crooks is a negro. Black men are not treated equal as white men at the age, he is sometimes being called ‘nigger’ (p20) by other ranch hands. His boss also gives him hell when he’s mad’(p21). Ex: White men have prejudice against Crooks simply because he has a different colour.
Eddie is extremely patronising when he speaks to Rodolfo however Rodolfo doesn’t appear to have the courage to through a decent punch at Eddie. This is until Eddie invites Rodolfo to put a bit more into it when he says “Come on, kid, put sump’d behind it” which leads to the once cautious man to jab at Eddies jaw and graze it. This perfectly sets up Eddie who now has a reasonable explanation to punch Rodolfo. This he does “staggering” Rodolfo who is quick to pull out the fight and begin dancing to Paper Doll with Catherine. This sequence of events also informs Rodolfo of what Eddie is capable of doing if his affections for Catherine still take the better of him.
The ways in which Candy’s dog and Lennie are treated in life and in death are the same. The continued existence of both has become offensive to the rest of the men. Lennie was to be lynched by Curley had George not done him a favour and done it the less way. Candy’s dog was killed because it discomforted others in the bunkhouse. Both were shot in the back of the head.
Curley doesn’t dare fight Slim or Carlson, and Candy is too old, so he takes it out on Lennie who he thinks is laughing at him. Steinbeck uses violent words like ‘slashed’, ‘smashed’ and ‘slugging’ to make the fight vivid, as well as describing the blood. He also makes it seem wilder by making PHILIP ALLAN LITERATURE GUIDE FOR GCSE © Philip Allan Updates 1 OF MICE AND MEN Sample essays George yell. He also makes us feel sorry for Lennie and his ‘terror’, which makes Slim get up, as if the fight is going to spread and involve all of the men. (b) The threat of violence is present in Of Mice and Men really from the first moment we meet Curley.
Crooks is wary of being exploited even though he has not much to lose but it seems, like everyone else on the ranch, he is isolated by others and even himself because he is coloured. This links in with the 1930's america Great depression where people isolated each other. This also links in with the racism at the time where coloured people were thought as inferior to the white men. These two facts suggest it was difficult to live at those times
Exposure to violence can breed violence even in those who oppose it. In the story, Lord of the Flies that is exactly what happens to the characters. Ralph loses his composure, Jack turns into a blood crazed savage and Ralph becomes part of the demented hunters. The aggressive atmosphere that thrives on that heinous island conquered the good character of the boys. Jack was the first of the boys to show signs of aggression, then it turned on his hunters, and then it took control of Ralph.
She has no friends therefore has a lonely existence. Our first impression of Curley’s wife is by the men on the ranch and what they think about her. Some of the words the men use to describe her include ‘‘tart’’ ‘‘jail-bait’’ and ‘‘she got the eye.’’ These all describe her to be dangerous before we first see her. When we’re first introduced to Curley’s wife she is heavily made up with red lipstick and red ostrich feathers both of which symbolise sexuality as well as danger. She has a very flirtatious nature which makes her husband jealous.
This is also ironic considering that Peterson is the one who ultimately kills Waters. Waters makes himself an exterminator of ignorant African-Americans and ends up being exterminated himself by a man he sees fit to represent the race. Sergeant Waters is known to be unfair and judgmental toward his own race. The common perception is that he holds African-American soldiers to a higher expectation and has a lower tolerance for potential mistakes. His thoughts on C.J.
They travel to a ranch where they have work, when Lennie and George arrive on the farm they are shown their quarters by Curley’s wife, on one of her ‘looking for Curley’ routines, sees them both and immediately starts flirting with them. George gets angry when Lennie takes a shine to her and tells him to stay away and calls her a ‘bitch’ and a ‘rat-trap’ This view is also held by many of the workers on the farm. Curley (Her Husband) instantly takes a dislike to Lennie when he firsts meets him just because he is considerably larger that himself. This attitude towards Lennie results in him getting into a fight with him but he loses when Lennie crushes his hand with his own fist. Curley’s wife knows Lennie did this even though Curly was told to say he had caught his hand in a machine.