Violence In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Violence is never the answer, as some may say. Although, what if acts of violence are the result of trying to achieve the right answer?

In Of Mice and Men, Lennie is described as an individual who is an abundance of nuisance. It began as innocent acts of violence, nothing life threatening. Lennie had discovered a mouse by the river where he and George was staying. Due to his uncontrolled strength, he killed the mouse by handling it with too much force. Even after the mouse had been killed, Lennie refused to get rid of the mouse. It’s impossible for him to let go of things that spark his interest. Lennie doesn’t realize what he’s doing is wrong. In result of that, he relies solely on George and his instruction. Just like anyone with a logical mind, George told Lennie to get rid of the mouse. This is where it first is apparent that Lennie responds in a violent manner when things don’t go along with Georges wishes and instructions.

Around the next few weeks, George and Lennie have settled into the farm.
They have become acquainted with their surrounding, and most of their co-workers. Before their employment even began, George had instructed Lennie to not speak, and to do nothing but do his job. Lennie obeyed of course, because all he wanted to do was please George. Not everyone was a fan of Lennie, and not many people understood his mental setbacks. For instance, Curley. Lennie had laughed at a joke made about Curley, and he singled out just him. Curley became infuriated to such an extreme, that began beating Lennie. Lennie knew that fighting back would disappoint George, but to his surprise, George wanted the exact opposite. Without any effort at all, Lennie broke every bone in Curley's hand. Again, to please George and to do as he was instructed.

As the book progresses, Lennie’s “non meaningful” violence has become serious acts of harm.
At this point, Lennie is overwhelmingly consumed with pleasing George. On a night where all the men were gone, Lennie was in the barn while the men were out and about when Curley’s wife walks in. Throughout Of Mice and Men, Curley’s wife is portrayed to be an overwhelming amount of provocation. Any man she could take advantage of, she would without any guilt. Lennie was the perfect “target” for Curley’s wife, considering he was easily fooled and taken advantage of. Lennie is known for not letting go of things he finds appealing. Which is why it was no surprise when he didn’t let go of Curley’s wife’s hair. What had started at as an attempted seduction, ended up with death by a snapped neck. All Lennie wanted to do was keep Curley’s wife quiet so he wouldn’t irritate George. The need to please George ended up with not only Curley’s wife's’ death, but George's death
himself.