Of Mice And Men- Example Essay (GCSE)

Explore the theme of violence and aggression in Of Mice and Men.

Of Mice and Men was set in 1930s America. In this time, The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl had meant that many men lost homes, ranches and agriculture and were forced to migrate in search for work. This created a tense environment on the ranches that the men went to work on, which is presented in the novella.

Physical violence is shown through Curley’s attitude towards the other men. Curley tries to fight Slim for supposedly sleeping with his wife, and then fights Lennie. Steinbeck has chosen to use Curley as the example of violence in the novella because it shows that he is trying to exert his dominance over the other men and make himself look threatening and tough. Curley is described as being like a ‘terrier,’ and George asks ‘what’s he got on his shoulder’ when he first meets him. This shows that he is aggressive right from the beginning, and, when Candy says that Curley has something against ‘big guys,’ it is obvious that most of the violence and aggression from Curley comes from his own insecurities. Carlson is another character that is associated with physical violence. Carlson kills Candy’s dog without hesitation and shows no remorse or empathy after doing so. This shows that men were very much pursuing their own interests and did not care for each other at the time. Steinbeck chose to do this to show the tension on the ranch at the time that the novella was set and how violence was commonplace.

Lennie, though physically violent in some parts of the novella (for example in the fight between him and Curley) does not actually mean to do this. Lennie regrets any violence he take part in. Steinbeck chose to make Lennie in this way to show the difference between Lennie and the other men on the ranch. Lennie does not really know what is going on in the grand scheme of things because of his mental disability, and so he is not as affected by the high tension or attitudes of the other men. George is aggressive but not in a way that is violent. This can be seen when he shouts at Lennie when they are sleeping by the river and tells him that he’d be better off without him. This is a result of the difficulty finding work and the fact that Lennie stops George from holding down a stable job. This fits the context of the novella because it shows the pressure on the migrant workers to find jobs and how easy it was to lose said job. Another character that is aggressive but not so much violent is Crooks, and this can be seen when he shouts at Lennie for coming in his room. Steinbeck chose to make Crooks defensive rather that violent like Curley to show that the bad treatment of Crooks had prevented him from trusting people easily. This fits the context because it reflects the way that segregation and racism in 1930s America caused divides and tension.

Overall, the theme of violence and aggression is prominent in Of Mice and Men, and this is meant to clearly reflect the times that the novella is set in and the difficulties faced in this period.

A/N- example essays for the GCSE subjects were written when I was studying the books, which was around the Y9-11 mark. My writing has greatly improved since then, but these essays were marked at around an A, so I thought I'd leave them as they were. I find that this gives a more accurate representation of GCSE level work. 

Thank you!

Anna xx