Of Mice And Men

Major conflicts in Of Mice and Men

Major Conflicts

Man Vs Society

Lennie had a problem with his self control. He couldn't control his actions

and his fetish with soft things got him into serious trouble. He touched a

women's dress once because of his obsession and she cried rape. The

townspeople chased George and Lennie out of town because they believed what the

girl had said. Lennie was a nuisance to most people and George had to

constantly get him out of trouble. He had to take care of Lennie because

without George, Lennie could not have survived. They had to travel from town

to town because of Lennie's compulsive behavior. Lennie got himself into a

huge mess when he was left alone with Curley's wife. He was touching her hair

and she told him to stop because she was getting mad, and he got really

nervous. He accidentally broke her neck and killed her because he didn't know

his own strength. When Curley and the other ranch hands found Curley's wife

dead, they soon came to the conclusion that Lennie was at fault. They set out

to track him down and ultimately kill him. This put George in a bad situation

because he had to make the most important decision in his life.

Man Vs Himself

George had taken care of Lennie and had done his thinking and talking for

him. He was responsible for his well being and was supposed to look out for

him. In previous situations George could easily get Lennie out of trouble by

getting him away from the problem. This time, however, it was a very

different, more complicated situation. George realized he couldn't get Lennie

out of this, that they would never have their own farm which was their dream.

Lennie would never be safe because he couldn't control himself and would

constantly get them into trouble. George had to decide whether to kill Lennie

before