Love and Violence in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men

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Love and Violence in Of Mice and Men

In Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, the characters display a definite violence directed toward those they love. "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" relates to what seems to be the destructive tendencies of the men in this book. Though Lennie's ruinous behavior originates from his childlike fascination with soft things, George and Candy appear to have almost productive reasons for causing harm. The differing means of hurting those they love emerge throughout the book in harsh words as well as in violence. Love can wound for different reasons and in different ways as in correlation with the poem, but that love is not always disastrous.

Lennie's incredible need often causes him to be "a man [who] kills the thing he loves." Recurrently, the reader is reminded of the way in which Lennie inadvertently kills animals and frightens people. For example, at the pool George and Lennie reveal in their conversation the reason that they are traveling. Lennie got himself into trouble in the last town for petting a woman's dress "like it was a mouse." This obvious innocence foreshadows the inevitable end to Lennie's carelessness. Trouble follows the two men because Lennie cannot realize what he is doing wrong. George can only call him "a crazy son-of-a-bitch" and pretend that he does not want the responsibility of the childish man. However, the powerful simpleton never means harm to his victims or comprehends the complications to George that come from the things he does. His thoughtless manner in which he lives represents those who continue to hurt their loves because they cannot think beyond their own needs.

When Candy has his dog killed, it is intentional. In part, he allows this to...

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... not display it earlier in the plot, he is the only one "brave" enough to "do the deed" personally.

The poem lists several ways in which people hurt those that they love. With Lennie, this is entirely unintentional. He never means harm to anyone, but with the capricious way in which he treats everything he wants to love, it is inevitable. Curlie's wife simply disregards the needs of others to satisfy her own, and this is willful selfishness. In Candy and George's case, however, the harm is deliberate, but not malicious. The "bitter" words that hurt Lennie are mostly used to help him because he cannot take care of himself. George, though he never admits that he loves his friend, acknowledges that he must occasionally be harsh to do good for Lennie. Sometimes hurting someone is necessary because of the love for the relationship, not in spite of it.

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