Comparing and Contrasting The Conflict Scenes in “Great Expectations” and “Of Mice and Men” Essay

A major point in each of these films argon the competitiveness or re master(prenominal)der guessings and although they appear in different points in the apologue they unagitated have an equally large effect on the main story line. In of Mice and manpower this combat betwixt Curley and Lennie is truly non cause by any major concomitantors a region from the point that Curley is a bully. He single chooses to choice on Lennie because he judges he send packing win either expression when picking on a big man, because if he wins he has won the fight, and if he looses he outhouse say he won to a larger opponent. This is why Curley picks Lennie when in fact all the otherwises were the ones who were universe critical of him. on the whole Lennie had to do was grin to urinate Curley hit him You could say he was in the wrong sic at the wrong time, which is exactly what mop up was in Great Expectations this was what ca utilise Magwitch to pick on Pip. Magwitch was non r etaliating to any thing Pip had done in the akin government agency that Curley was non retaliating to anything that Lennie had done, although he does make the false accusation that Lennie was laughing at him.We do non drive in any past history astir(predicate) Great Expectations apart from the fact that Pips mother and father are unwarranted although this rattling does not have anything to do with this impinge. We come up out subsequentlywards that Magwitch is an escaped convict and so he was merely essay to pop off nutriment. In of Mice and Men, however, we do know both(prenominal) past history plainlyt joint the conflict. Curleys wife is a flirt only Curley doesnt fulfillm to actualise this so when people say something about his wife he notions confronted and in this case he releases his aggression physically and he releases it on Lennie because he bring forwards that is the fight he is least wish wellly to loose. The two combatants in the conflict scene f rom of Mice and Men are Lennie and Curley. Curley comes across as a petty(a) muscular ex-boxer who is quick on his feat and very intentionally aggressive. Lennie on the other hand is portrayed as a large aristocratical figure who is naive, innocent and very dependant (on his travelling partner George) and is and then never intentionally aggressive towards anyone.The men are al nigh hail opposites of each other this is similar to the end of Great Expectations where Magwitch, the ex-convict meets up with the stainless gentleman he has produced, who happens to be his former combatant Pip from the reference of the book. In Great Expectations Magwitch is presented as particularly dangerous person at first however later in the book we realise he is in fact a complicated person who was never in reality trying to hurt anyone. He was obviously born into this social twelvemonth where he was bound to end up having to steal for food anyway and in fact later in the story he says his ea rliest memory was stealing cabbages from a farmers patch So when it comes to Magwitch being a criminal, he rattling didnt have any choice in the matter. Pip, who the story is about is portrayed as a person with as the story is named Great Expectations, he doesnt seem to be joyful with growing up to be respectable an average worker. So it very must be an amazingly kind and dedicated man, who despite being a convict, manages to produce this perfectly crafted young gentleman.Which in the end causes Magwitch to be executed when he comes over to see what all his money and travail has produced. A main feature in of Mice and Men is the words and phrases used to describe and create atmosphere in relation to the conflict scene between Curley and Lennie. This includes many references and comparisons between the two men and animals. It starts near the blood of the conflict when Curley tries to intimidate Lennie by walking over and staring at Lennie. In The book Steinbeck describes it by writing, Curley stepped over to Lennie like a terrier. This is a wakeless simile as it truly does emphasise Curleys small however snappy genius. Then later on when Curley has started hitting Lennie Steinbeck describes Lennie as Bleating. later(prenominal) on in the fight, however, when Lennie fights back and grabs Curleys hand, this action is described in the book as Curleys fist being lost in Lennies paw. Also as a consequence of this action Curley ends up, Flopping like a fish This may not be intentional by Steinbeck but bears are a natural predator of fish, which would agree with the comparisons.Yet we already know that Curleys, natural tar set ups have been bigger men, so it is a bank line of this when Curley himself becomes the prey. In the conflict scene in this book there are a circularize of verbs to suggest Curleys boxing career, for example on scallywag 66 when Curley first starts to hit Lennie it says, Curley was balanced and poised. He slashed at Lennie with his left, and then smashed down his nose with a right altogether these words come on that Curley really was merely round of golf out Lennie up at this point. Lennie was not retaliating at all he was just taking the spacious blows from Curley. Its seems as if he does not realise that he can fight back, Lennie gave a cry of terror. George He cried Make him let me alone George as he backed up against the wall Lennie, tied(p) when in the most dangerous and threatening smirchs where you would have though natural instinct would model in, still calls for Georges guidance or help.It is Lennies lack of dexterity to do things for himself, which lastly leads to his downfall. The language also plays a big part in the story, In Great Expectations the words and phrases also play a big part in displaying the action happening during the conflict although broadly speaking they are used to show the actions and feelings of the characters rather than the physical conflict because the conflict in this story is less striking. For example phrases such as, I pleaded in terror I was dreadfully frightened. and He muttered then confacering. all show emotional or mental states which do help you imagine the situation however the actual physical action is not portrayed as if it was extremely violent which is because although it is a conflict, the two combatants are not really engaging in any kind of physical fight. The most dramatic thing that happens in this meeting is when Magwitch grabs Pip and shakes him upside down by his ankles, which probably hurt Pip somewhat.All that is said about this in the story however, is, He turned me upside down and emptied my pockets. this does not make it sound particularly dramatic. This is because it is not done as an intentionally insalubrious thing to try and cause harm to Pip it is just Magwitch trying to get food from Pip. Even when Pip is defending himself, it is never physically. thither are only two times when he really tries to tally M agwitch from hurting him and the first of these is at the top of page 2when he says, adoptt cut my throat sir, and then on page 3 when he says, If you would kindly please to let me keep upright, sir, perhaps I shouldnt be sick, and perhaps I could attend more. In some(prenominal) of these instances Pip regards his attacker with the utmost of respect and tries to reason with him despite the fact that this man he has never met has threatened to kill him.In this way the language shows the reader how Pip feels and how they are behaving, whereas in of Mice and Men we get mainly a physical side to the fight because that conflict is a dispense more actual fighting than in the conflict between Pip and Magwitch. In Great Expectations there are no other characters watching when the actual conflict occurs and so the meeting is a lot less about show than it is in of Mice and Men where Curley is really just trying to show the other men that he is still a good fighter and is in charge physical ly as easily as being the bosses son. This fails though, when Lennie successfully retaliates. There are a lot more people who have a role in the conflict in of Mice and Men than there are in Great Expectations. In Great Expectations Pips has done goose egg to provoke the attack and he does not have any real family who could have done so and Magwitch is a convict. The only person we could say, that had a role in this conflict would be the person who Magwitch escaped with because he was the one who helped him escaped and who Magwitch said the food was for.Although this escaped partner turns out to be the person who lets him down by giving him in to the police. In of Mice and Men George is some other main character that plays a big role in this conflict. Because Lennie is so dependant on George, he has to stay around him all the time or he may do something which will end up with them leaving their jobs or having to leave town. He gives Lennie all the right advice about Curley, yet C urley still finds an excuse to hit him. So George is entirely just in relation back Lennie to hit back in this situation. Even though he doesnt do it at first, in the end Lennie fights back and with incredible force. beholding as Lennie takes every instruction from George, you could say it was George who was fighting back against Curley because if it werent for him then Lennie would have just sat back and taken the beating until he was knocked out or until someone stepped in. Another character who had a role in this conflict was Curleys wife.Curley does not know how to bind her flirting and so he just tries to make everyone to scared to regular talk to his wife. This works with the workers and they wont go near her but this makes her try harder to get their attention. This is what puts Curley in a grownup mood sooner the conflict because they all gang up on him about his wife. ironically the only person who doesnt say anything is Lennie and he is the one who Curley picks to be at up. This conflict in of Mice and Men makes us think that Curley has got his comeuppance and that Lennie is some kind of hero because we naturally feel sorry for the underdog who triumphs over a cocky adversary. We feel a justice has been done and this makes us pauperization to know what Curley is going to do to get back at him. All through the story I think we know that Lennie is going to eventually kill someone so we are always lookinging for who we think it will be. This conflict makes us proud of Lennie for beating Curley although we still feel sorry for him despite the fact that he has just physically assaulted and bad injured some other human being. It is strange how Steinbeck gets us to feel this range of emotions through a relatively simple fight. We postulate to know what will happen next and it brings action to the book which makes us think that the end will be even more dramatic. In great expectations we are given an opening to the story. We know almost nothing abo ut the plot yet we essential to read on to find out what relevance this conflict has to the main story line, almost like the chase at the beginning of a James Bond movie. We are enjoying the action and we are introduced to the main character but we still want to find out what the main plot is going to be afterwards. This is not the main action in the story but it is still important. This is the same in of Mice and Men where we know this conflict between Curley and Lennie is not the main action but it is still important and makes us want to know what is going to happen to the characters at the end of the story. The conflict in of Mice and Men is more about catharsis than resolution Steinbeck is not trying to cream a problem by showing you this fight, which is a climax of the story so far.He is also not showing you a intelligent ending to the fight he is posing a problem, which to some utmost is never solved throughout the book. By showing the reader Lennies attempt at doing somet hing bad we very see what a good person he is by the way he reacts afterwards and even during the conflict. He cries and shouts as if he has no control over what he is doing to Curley. This is the main theme of the book and once you can see this, you can start to empathise and eventually feel sorry for Lennie, which I think is Steinbecks overall aim in the story. By bringing out Lennies bad side, the author is showing a side of the character that happiness cannot. However when it comes to Lennie, this shows us that he does not have a really bad part to his personality. It is almost through being innocent, that Lennie appears not to be to blame, as he is not clever enough to have foul just anger towards someone.Although at the same time it is because of his innocents and naivety that he doesnt realise all he has to do is let go, and the aberration will stop. However no matter how you look at this inexperienced person/Harmful side of Lennie, it is still is what causes all the dea ths in this book. Yet not one of these deaths or injuries is caused by Lennie intentionally trying to hurt another human being apart from when he hurts Curleys hand in this conflict. It is the only time we really see Lennie intentionally doing some harm, and this is only after being beaten up by an ex-professional boxer and then told to do it by George So in this way the conflict is not really solving anything. This is exactly the same as in Great Expectations where we see Magwitch stealing food from Pip. Dickens is showing us the bad side of this character right from the start and at first glance we behave he is an evil criminal and a bad person.However if we look closer we see that the bad side of this person is actually not trying to be bad and scary, its just how it looks. For example the first thing Magwitch says is, Hold Your Noise Cried A Terrible Voice. The word terrible makes us assume that this person is bad but really he is just trying to make Pip be quiet so he does not cause any attention to himself. He is only robbing Pip for food he is stealing for survival. So he is not actually trying to do a bad thing. Like how Lennie never does bad things intentionally in of Mice and Men. The conflict scenes in both these books are not about intentional harm or causing pain to another person (with exception of what Curley is doing to Lennie) they are about people doing these things because they have to, not out of choice. The stories make you empathise with the main combatants despite the fact they are doing something wrong.