Conflict in ‘Of Mice and Men’

One conflict that I would like to elaborate on from Of Mice and Men is about Carlson insisting on shooting Candy’s dog. There was a conflict with Candy against the rest of the men in The Bunkhouse prior to the old dog finally getting shot, but I think the afterword problem is far more important to the plot. After Candy’s old dog was brought outside to be shot by Carlson, the text says, “Candy lay rigidly on his bed staring at the ceiling” Once Candy’s dog is killed, Candy is all alone. The old dog was his only family, since most people during this time seemed to lose touch with their family as soon as they went to find a job. Candy also feels useless since he is old and is missing a hand. As he lays on his bed, feeling empty inside, he knows that he will probably be fired soon, with nobody to be with him and nowhere to go. After Candy lay on his bed some more, listening to George tell Lennie once again about their dream, Candy says, “ ‘… Tell you what——‘ He leaned forward eagerly. ‘S’pose I went in with you guys… ‘“ Due to the old dog getting shot, Candy was all alone, which caused him to want to help Lennie and George fulfill their dream, as long as he could be in on it with them. Candy then offered to help them by putting in his three hundred and fifty dollars, which would have taken Lennie and George such a long time to get on their own. Now that Candy offered to help, Lennie and George’s dream started to become more and more real. So, the conflict with Candy, Carlson and the old dog actually had a positive effect on the plot.

Another conflict that had a large impact on the plot is with Curley. Curley thinks he is superior to all of the other men on the ranch because he is the boss’ son. He wants people to know that he is stronger than them and feels threatened by people just because he thinks that they might be stronger than them. In the beginning of the book, when Curley first meets Lennie, he dislikes him a lot. We then learn from Slim that this is because Lennie is big. Curley hates big people because he is a smaller man, and feels like they think that they are better than him, even if they don’t. This part was the beginning of the conflict which would have an impact on the plot. On page 62, directly after Lennie, George, and Candy had been talking about their dream life, the author says, “Lennie was smiling with delight of the memory of the ranch. Curly stepped over to Lennie like a terrier. ‘What the hell you laughin’ at?’ Lennie looked blankly at him. ‘Huh?’ Then Curley’s rage exploded …” The building up anger towards Lennie, only because he’s larger than him is the conflict that Lennie and Curley have. This one smile of Lennie was the last straw for Curley, even though Lennie didn’t direct it towards him. This anger that is filling Curley finally blows and Curley starts fighting Lennie, which ends with Lennie crushing Curley’s hand with his massive strength. Due to Lennie crushing Curley’s hand, Curley’s wife likes Lennie even more. I predict that this will cause an effect on the plot in the future, but in regards to the effect that it has on the plot so far, there is something. Now, Curley knows that he can be beat and it brings his power down a little. This is how this conflict between Lennie and Curley affect the plot.