Lennie is one of the main characters in the story. He is a lovable and kind person, but has an internal conflict with himself. Lennie is a very big guy, physically. He doesn’t have a great way of controlling himself, and gets frightened when he knows he’s in trouble. For example, we learn that Lennie has a history of unintentionally terrorizing people with his incredible strength, as he did in his previous job before the story opens. George explains to another character,
‘‘ Just wanted to feel that girl’s dress-jus’ wanted to pet it like it was a mouse- Well, how in the hell did she know who jus; wanted to feel her dress?She jerks back and you hold on like it was a mouse.’’ (11)
Lennie’s actions lead to problems with others involved in with his actions. He seems to have a child- like mind, in which he needs to be told what to do an what not to do all the time. He cannot control himself as a man.
The same internal conflict that Lennie has is shared with George. George and Lennie have been friends for a long time and Lennie sorta has a feeling for the guy. For example, George explains how they stick together. ‘‘Slim looked through George and beyond him. “Ain’t many guys travel around together,” he mused. “ I don’ know why. Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.” “ It’s a lot nicer to go around with a guy you know,” said George.(38)
George takes care of Lennie because of both of them traveling together. George knows the trouble that Lennie gives him, like losing jobs, getting girls dresses, and forgetting things all the time. Of course these incidents don’t happen all the time, but it creates a conflict with Lennie's own self that makes George having to take the outcome of his actions. George could be better of by himself, as he explains in the story, but finds himself still in contact with Lennie. Its the bond that they share that makes George still stay with Lennie and having to have to share the trouble. What also makes George stay i some of Lennie’s hard work. Lennie is a really big guy who knows how to work. If the boss likes Lennie’s work there is a chance that the boss will also feel confident of letting George stay and work as well. Lennie’s internal conflict creates a conflict with George that makes him mad at Lennie, but at the same time he stays with him for multiple reasons.
Curly also has a conflict with his physical self. He is a type of guy who wants to show everyone he is tough and brave, but really is a big fat coward.‘‘ The swamper considered.... "Well...tell you what. Curley's like a lot of little guys. He hates big guys. He's alla time picking scraps with big guys. Kind of like he's mad because he ain't a big guy. You seen little guys like that, ain't you? Always scrappy?" (26)
Curly’ own self image creates a mind setting stage where he thinks of himself as the boss, when in fact he is not. He seems to be afraid of what others can do to him, because of his size, so in order t have an advantage he acts like a jerk. This makes him not feel good about himself and makes others dislike him. Curly had a big conflict with Lennie just because Lennie was big. That made George feel mad about Curly’s actions which lead into a bigger conflict. What is Curly’s attitude bringing a bad feeling to other characters
and leads to other conflicts.
In the outcome Of Mice And Men, George decides to make a devastating action and kills Lennie. Throughout the story characters deal with their own self conflict, but sometimes let their actions take order of how the communicate with others, which creates conflicts with those characters. These small conflicts lead the pot of the story in which the central conflict is character vs self.
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