Blog for Week 5.9.16 - Conflict in Of Mice and Men

      In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, there have been a few conflicts that have affected the plot. For example, Curley immediately doesn't like Lennie and George. "His glance was at once calculating and pugnacious. " (page 25). The other characters have informed us that Curley has a pretty bad temper and picks fights with bigger guys a lot. This is an example of a Man vs. Man Conflict. And this conflict affects the plot. “He slashed at Lennie with his left, and then smashed down on his nose with his right. Lennie gave a cry of terror. Blood welled from his nose” “Curley’s fist was swinging when Lennie reached for it. The next minute Curley was flopping like a fish…” “Looks to me like ever’ bone in his han’ is bust.” (Page 63 & 64) The result of Curley not liking Lennie and George, is Curley getting into a fight with Lennie, and Lennie breaking nearly every single bone in Curley's hand.
Another example of a conflict in Of Mice and Men is Lennie and George not having enough money to pay for the ranch they are dreaming of, which means that they cannot make their dream come true. This is an example of Man vs. Self. "We got ten bucks between us." (page 59). The result of this conflict is Lennie and George letting Candy come along to help pay for their dream. "S'pose I went in with you guys, Tha's tree hundred an' fifty bucks I'd put in. I ain't much good, but I could cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some." This affects the plot because Candy is now a part of making their dream come true which is a HUGE part of the plot. They all of the time mention their dream of owning the ranch, and letting Candy come along, which will help their dream come true, is huge.
The third conflict in Of Mice and Men that I will talk about is Curley's wife flirting with everyone. ""Hi Slim," she said. ... "Hi, Good-lookin'," (Page 31) Curley's wife and Slim seem to flirt with each other all of the time. I think that this is an example of Man vs. Man conflict. The effect of this is that Curley confronts Slim way to much, thinking that he is with his wife. Slim gets angry, which makes Curley angry and Curley takes his anger out on other people. "Curley said, "Well, I didn't mean nothing, Slim. I just ast you." Slim said, "Well, you been askin' me way too often. I'm getting God damn sick of it. If you can't look after your own God damn wife, what you expect me to do about it? You lay offa me." This makes Curley mad, and then Curley takes his anger out on Lennie, which in addition to the first conflict I mentioned, resulted in Curley getting into a fight with Lennie. So it is kind of like a chain reaction of events.
And the final conflict in Of Mice and Men is Lennie's disability. This is an example of Man vs. Self. "I forgot," Lennie said softly. "I tried not to forget. Honest to God I did, George."" (page 4) He has the mind of a child and is very forgetful. This can sometimes get him into trouble sometimes because he doesn't know better. "Jus' wanted to feel that girl's dress--just wanted to pet it like it was a mouse--- Well, how the hell did she know you jus' wanted to feel her dress? She jerks back and you hold on like it was a mouse. She yells and we got to hide in a irrigation ditch all day with guys lookin' for us..." (page 11) He didn't think anything of it, he just wanted to feel the little girl's dress because he liked the texture of it, he didn't think that he was doing anything wrong, but who wouldn't be scared if a huge man comes up and starts feeling your dress? His mind gets him and George in trouble sometimes because he doesn't know better, and they usually get kicked out of camps, which affects the plot a lot.