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  • Essay / How does Steinbeck present the theme of conflict in...

    The theme of conflict looms over the entire plot of Of Mice and Men, starting from the first scene and persisting until the end . The conflict ranges from the captivating way in which Steinbeck forces man to wrestle with his inner animal behavior to the ever-looming conflict between George and Lennie with their radically different personalities, appearances, and understanding of their ideal, the American dream. The Great Depression forms the backbone of Steinbeck's novel, with events such as the stock market crash through to the recovery after World War I, allowing him to maintain the realism of contradictory events while still leaving room for the intriguing side and deeper of each event. the characters. Steinbeck manages to mask the conflict in the short story by not only stating the conflict, but using language and literary techniques he subtly implies it. The beginning of part one gives the reader the feeling of a perfect backdrop, but conflict is present throughout. An example of this hidden conflict is the pool of water which, without much description at first, gives you the image of a turquoise pool filled with fresh water, but just as George and Lennie emerge the reader is informed "at the edge of the green pond". showing that the pool is stagnant and fetid. The first part opens with the "idyllic" setting of Soledad with whistling throughout the first phrase "south of Soledad, the Salinas River" creating the initial silence and tranquility; the assonance builds toward the relaxed, sleepy feel of the setting with “deep, green limbs” and “lying limbs.” A single sentence consisting of 7 lines runs through the first paragraph, giving you a sense of the perfect moment in time and the whole captured in a snapshot that lasts for eternity. As you progress through...the middle of the document...this is a major breakthrough for George understanding that he is responsible for Lennie and that he has to do whatever is best, right only for himself but for both of them. . This understanding leads George to end Lennie's life not out of motivation to prevent him from causing further chaos, but to keep Lennie out of danger. Steinbeck manages to create a short story comprised primarily of just conflict, but uses it on many levels to allow not only the characters but also their stories to develop as a whole. All the characters suffered from conflict in one way or another, whether internal or external, but all caused by the conflicting period, the Great Depression. Steinbeck's wide variety of literary techniques and effective use of the period of conflict in a short story manage to create an almost domino effect of conflict, transferring from one to the other..