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Murder In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

844 Words4 Pages

Murder is easily one of the most disputed practices in American society. Some of the most controversial social and political issues involve death, including abortions, warfare, and animal rights. Additionally, it is a common topic in the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Three characters are murdered over the course of the novel, and like many of the previously stated social issues, there is no exact ruling if these murders are justified. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck brings forth the idea that sometimes murder is morally justifiable. The first stated murder in the book takes place when many of the men decided that Candy’s old sheepdog had been alive long enough, and it would be more beneficial for all affiliated parties to shoot …show more content…

In this novel, Curley’s wife had gotten killed while Lennie was trying to latch onto her hair. His sheer strength had broken her neck and her death was probably the most brutal, as this was the only murder where no weapons were used. Yes, this form of death is barbaric and uncalled for, but Curley’s wife was easily one of the least popular people on the ranch, so some thought that the murder was her fault. When Candy sees Curley’s wife’s body, “his sorrow and anger grew into words,” and he says in a rage, “You God damn tramp, you done it, di’n’t you? I s’pose you were glad. Ever’body knowed you’d mess things up. You wasn’t no good. You ain’t no good now, you lousy tart.” (p. 95) Candy is saying that he believes that Curley’s wife set everything up because she uses her gender to her advantage. Over the course of the book, she often tries to have conversations with the other people on the farm to combat her loneliness, but the people on the ranch only see her as disobedient. This negative perception of Curley’s wife leads George to tell Lennie that “[she’ll] get us into a mess,” (p. 88) and that he should not try to interact with her. The assumed actions of Curley’s wife reflect her loneliness. She was denied from acting, which was a dream of hers, and restricted from ever talking to anybody, therefore sinking into a place where she had nothing

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