WELCOME!
Please take some time to post two responses to Of Mice and Men before you return to class on January 4. Each post should be at least 100 words long and should include direct references to the text you are discussing. Even if you are responding to a quote in the prompt, you should bolster your own response with other references. Those references should include internal citations to note where you are in the book (p. #). When you make a post, please read all other posts for that question so that you are participating in a conversation. Please do not repeat what other students have already said. There are many questions from which to choose, so you should be able to discuss your ideas somewhere without being redundant. Remember to make some post-it notations about symbols and archetypes, along with any other ideas you would like to discuss when we get back to class.
Feel free to respond to as many prompts as you would like. If you respond to more than two, please asterisk the responses that are NOT for evaluation. Be sure your name appears on each comment, so I can see who you are. I think you will need to log in to your Google account as you work. If you can, please post with your school Google identity. If you post as "Anonymous" without your name, you will not be able to receive credit for your work, so be sure your name appears within the comment if you do that.
Curley gets what he deserves when Lennie breaks his hand because, even when Curley was warned of Lennie's strength and how he isn't bright, he continues to hurt Lennie emotionally and physically. Curley doesn't like the idea of Lennie being so large, so he develops a hatred and jealousy which only violence can satisfy. When he starts beating Lennie, Curley doesn't understand that Lennie doesn't know when he's hurting someone too much, and Lennie takes Curley's hand and crushes it. Later, after the death of Curley's wife, George tells Curley, "'The poor bastard's nuts. Don't shoot 'im. He di'n't know what he was doing'"(p. 98). In the previous situation, Lennie doesn't know that he is hurting someone else because he is too afraid to stop letting go of someone. This is because of Lennie's slower mind that doesn't function like the others' minds do. Because of this, Curley has gotten what he deserves when his hand is broken by Lennie.
ReplyDeleteCurly got exactly what was coming for him. His attitude towards Lennie when George and Lennie arrive at the ranch is the justification. Curly had no reason to call out George and say “’Well, nex’ time you answer when you’re spoke to,” (26). Curly doesn’t need to treat both George and Lennie in such a rude manner, but he did just because Lennie is a large man. Furthermore, when George and Lennie meet Curly, Lennie’s size should made it evident that Lennie is someone not to be trifled with. Despite this, Curly still assaults Lennie who subsequently annihilates his hand. Curly deserved the treatment that Lennie gave him.
ReplyDeleteAlso agreeing with the other posts, Curley does get what he deserves when Lennie breaks his hand. He was still angry at the suspicion that Slim was with his wife, yet he apologized because he knew that Slim would never do that to him. However, he noticed Lennie, who was still daydreaming about his future farm and smiling, and picked up a fight with him. He loses his mind and his raged exploded and said to Lennie, “Come on, ya big bastard. Get up on your feet. No big son-of-a-bitch is gonna laugh at me. I’ll show ya who’s yella” (62). He clearly underestimates Lennie’s size and strength, which is why his hand is easily broken. Curley should have calmed down instead of trying to start a fight with someone who was not a part of the problem. Lennie was still thinking about his dream farm, he was does not know where Curley’s wife is. This fight is clearly uncalled for, Curley had no reason to pick up a fight with Lennie, and it was just a way to try to show that he was tough and his anger took over his mind, which subsequently failed.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with everything people have been mentioning in the posts above. Curley got the right punishment in response to the brutal harassment he was showing towards Lennie, calling him names and beating him. Curley "slashed at Lennie...and then smashed down his nose...[slugged] him in his face...Curley attacked his stomach and cut off his wind" (63). Basically, Curley was acting like a big bully out of jealousy and anger. If physical and verbal abuse is not what bullying is, then I do not know what is! The only way to stop bullying is to eliminate the bully. I commend Lennie for sticking up for himself. While in modern days, people try to approach bullying in a more peaceful way, considering the circumstances given in "Of Mice and Men," the only option to obliterate harassment was to break the chain and hurt Curley.
ReplyDeleteJulia Wolf
I agree with everything people have been mentioning in the posts above. Curley got the right punishment in response to the brutal harassment he was showing towards Lennie, calling him names and beating him. Curley "slashed at Lennie...and then smashed down his nose...[slugged] him in his face...Curley attacked his stomach and cut off his wind" (63). Basically, Curley was acting like a big bully out of jealousy and anger. If physical and verbal abuse is not what bullying is, then I do not know what is! The only way to stop bullying is to eliminate the bully. I commend Lennie for sticking up for himself. While in modern days, people try to approach bullying in a more peaceful way, considering the circumstances given in "Of Mice and Men," the only option to obliterate harassment was to break the chain and hurt Curley.
ReplyDeleteJulia Wolf
I agree with everything people have been mentioning in the posts above. Curley got the right punishment in response to the brutal harassment he was showing towards Lennie, calling him names and beating him. Curley "slashed at Lennie...and then smashed down his nose...[slugged] him in his face...Curley attacked his stomach and cut off his wind" (63). Basically, Curley was acting like a big bully out of jealousy and anger. If physical and verbal abuse is not what bullying is, then I do not know what is! The only way to stop bullying is to eliminate the bully. I commend Lennie for sticking up for himself. While in modern days, people try to approach bullying in a more peaceful way, considering the circumstances given in "Of Mice and Men," the only option to obliterate harassment was to break the chain and hurt Curley.
ReplyDeleteJulia Wolf
Curley undoubtedly deserves his broken hand considering Lennie is acting in complete self-defense. Curley loves to pick fights, and he spots out his victims very quickly and unfortunately, Lennie becomes one of his many victims. When Lennie is smiling at the thought of his old ranch, Curley decides it is the perfect time to make his vicious and groundless move. Curley "slashed at Lennie with his left, and then smashed down his nose with a right," (63). Lennie, being a very innocent, almost child-like man is disgusted with the thought of violence, even if it means defending himself and because of this it is extremely difficult for him to fight back. George's unrelenting encouragement is what makes Lennie retaliate, ultimately resulting in Curley's broken hand. Curley's ferocity is irrational and he only attempts fighting Lennie to prove himself as a man not to be messed with. If Lennie didn't show Curley that his violence was intolerable, Curley would continue to torment him as well as others, making Lennie's action of breaking his hand justified.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone's previous statements in saying that Curley got what he deserved. Through George's eyes Lennie is a man that never means any harm, and just gets confused in certain situations. However to other people he seems a little nuts and he maybe makes them uncomfortable, so when Lennie and George first meet Curley he is curious about Lennie from the beginning, and want to possibly start trouble. Since George is familiar with Lennie's behavior he says, "Lennie ain't no fighter, but Lennie's strong and quick and Lennie don't know the rules" (27). When George says this his understanding of Lennie shines through and allows Lennie to seem like more of a victim, rather than a big bad guy like Curley or some of the other guys make him out to be. Lennie throughout the book is talking about his rabbits and his hopes for the future on the farm with George and Candy, so he seems like a happy dreaming child, but he is very strong. When Curley comes into the barn ready to fight and starts tormenting Lennie the only reasonable thing to do would be to fight back, just as Lennie did. He "looked helplessly at George" (62) in the beginning and was unsure what to do because George told Lennie specifically not to get involved with Curley. However in a situation like this it is only necessary that he should fight back, just as the Julia, Caroline, and Madeline had said. George realizes the intensity and seriousness of Curley's intentions and tells him to "get 'im Lennie" (63). Since Lennie is so much larger than Curley his small action was exaggerated. Anyone would have fought back in Lennie's situation, but because of his size Curley got much more of a serious injury even though Lennie may not have meant to hurt him so much. After he saw what he had done to Curley he says to George "you tol' me to" (64) and then says "I didn't wanta hurt him" (64). Lennie's intentions are not always clear and his actions cannot be explained as well as someone else because of his mindset and sheer size, but that does not change the fact that his actions were justifiable and Curley got what he deserved because anyone would have done what Lennie did in his situation.
ReplyDeleteHoshaiah Long
I agree with everyone's previous statements in saying that Curley got what he deserved. Through George's eyes Lennie is a man that never means any harm, and just gets confused in certain situations. However to other people he seems a little nuts and he maybe makes them uncomfortable, so when Lennie and George first meet Curley he is curious about Lennie from the beginning, and want to possibly start trouble. Since George is familiar with Lennie's behavior he says, "Lennie ain't no fighter, but Lennie's strong and quick and Lennie don't know the rules" (27). When George says this his understanding of Lennie shines through and allows Lennie to seem like more of a victim, rather than a big bad guy like Curley or some of the other guys make him out to be. Lennie throughout the book is talking about his rabbits and his hopes for the future on the farm with George and Candy, so he seems like a happy dreaming child, but he is very strong. When Curley comes into the barn ready to fight and starts tormenting Lennie the only reasonable thing to do would be to fight back, just as Lennie did. He "looked helplessly at George" (62) in the beginning and was unsure what to do because George told Lennie specifically not to get involved with Curley. However in a situation like this it is only necessary that he should fight back, just as the Julia, Caroline, and Madeline had said. George realizes the intensity and seriousness of Curley's intentions and tells him to "get 'im Lennie" (63). Since Lennie is so much larger than Curley his small action was exaggerated. Anyone would have fought back in Lennie's situation, but because of his size Curley got much more of a serious injury even though Lennie may not have meant to hurt him so much. After he saw what he had done to Curley he says to George "you tol' me to" (64) and then says "I didn't wanta hurt him" (64). Lennie's intentions are not always clear and his actions cannot be explained as well as someone else because of his mindset and sheer size, but that does not change the fact that his actions were justifiable and Curley got what he deserved because anyone would have done what Lennie did in his situation.
ReplyDeleteHoshaiah Long
I also agree with the other posts that Curley deserves the broken hand. Lennie is a very child-like figure, who does not ever mean to cause others harm. After all of the physical and mental pain that Curley had caused Lennie, the only way that Lennie could defend himself was to fight back. Curley "slashed at Lennie with his left, and then smashed down his nose with a right," (63). This gives us an idea of how little Lennie had done to fight back in the beginning, and how much thought it takes for him to actually intentionally hurt someone. Even in the beginning of the book, Lennie would never hurt any creature on purpose, which shows his innocence and what a toll purposely hurting another human would take on him. One can tell by Lennie's actions before breaking Curley's hand that he truly did not want to hurt Curley. As Hoshaiah said, one of action he takes is when he, "looked helplessly at George" (62). When doing this, you can tell he does not want to hurt anyone, and is looking for reassurance on the reasonable thing to do. Also, referring to Hoshaiah's point, after the fight Lennie says to George "you tol' me to" (64) and then says "I didn't wanta hurt him" (64). Lennie's mental innocence reflect on his actions, but he also trusts George and will do anything that he tells him to. Although Lennie did not want to hurt Curley, it was the only way that he could make Curley stop hurting him, which makes it so that Curley did deserve the broken hand.
ReplyDeleteMesa Tinger
I believe that Curley got what he deserved, because he knew that Lenny was slow and didn't understand everything that was going on. Curley meet Lenny earlier and could tell he was slow and I think that this made him a target for his attacks. When all of the men go into the house all of the men are giving Curley a hard time about a few diffrent thing. Lenny started to giggle because he was still thinking about Gorge, Candys, and his own plans for the future and Curley takes this as a chance to vent some of his anger. Curley knows that Lenny wouldn't fight back and just went off on him. Lenny then grabs his first after being told to fight back and crushes Curley's hand. I believe he got what was coming to him because even with others laughing at he he went for the only one who wild t fight back.
ReplyDeleteJack Morris
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