Violence and Sadism in John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men - Literature Essay Samples

In John Steinbecks powerful American masterpiece Of Mice and Men, first published in 1937 during the height of the Great Depression, the main characters of George Milton and Lennie Small experience many hard and difficult situations which on occasion are steeped with violence and sadistic behavior, due to living and working in a world where personal interaction is marked by. . . petty control, misunderstanding, jealousy and callousness (Scheer 14). Yet after a careful reading of the text, it becomes clear that George and Lennie are at times the true instigators of the violence while also being pawns in the hands of such men as Curley, the prizefighter who finds much sadistic delight in picking on the ranch workers and those whom he sees as socially beneath him.Interestingly, Steinbeck himself was quite familiar with the trials and tribulations associated with being an outsider and a common laborer, much like George and Lennie in Of Mice and Men. During his youth, Steinbeck worked di ligently as a hired hand on ranches close to his home in Salinas, California, where he met and talked with migrant farm workers who told him of their adventures and mishaps before and during the Great Depression when millions of people were unemployed and were forced to earn their living by any means necessary. These chance meetings and descriptions of what it was like to be a common laborer served Steinbeck well, for he later incorporated many of these down-and-out tales into his novels and short stories, Of Mice and Men being no exception.If we examine some of the major scenes in Of Mice and Men, the presence of violence and sadism can easily be sensed, especially through the actions and reactions of Lennie Small, the lumbering giant with the mind of a child who brings a frightening capacity for violence into the unsuspecting bunkhouse at the ranch. As William Goldhurst points out, Lennie carries with him, intact from childhood, that low threshold between rage and pleasure which w e all carry within us into adulthood (135), yet in the hands of those most prone to sadistic behavior, Lennie is a scapegoat and thus cannot be held accountable for his actions, due to his mental capacity which borders on imbecility.In the scene where George and Lennie are on their way to the ranch to buck barley, the conversation turns to their last job in the little town of Weed, where Lennie had been attracted to a girls red dress. After grabbing at her clothes, Lennie became so frightened by her screaming that George was forced to hit him over to head to make him let go of her. Following this incident, the duo ends up being chased by a mob out to lynch them for Lennies treatment of the girl which in the eyes of the lynch mob was akin to attempted rape. In essence, this scene illustrates Steinbecks power as a writer with his ability to bring into extraordinary scenes of social conflict the psychological forcefulness of Lennies infantile reactions to the girls red dress. But the v iolence of Lennie towards the girl pales in comparison to the violent reactions of the mob who are obviously either unaware of Lennies child-like mind or simply see the situation as an opportunity to express their inner anger towards a subhuman creature, unable to distinguish between right and wrong (Benson 256).The initial introduction of Curley, the swaggering, boastful son of the ranch owner, truly sets the stage for more violence and sadistic behavior aimed at not only George and Lennie but anyone who stands in his way or throws a glancing eye towards his attractive yet whorish wife. During the time when George and Lennie are waiting for the lunch bell, Curley enters the bunkhouse, ostensibly looking for his father but really just to examine the new hired men. After putting across to the men that he is the master of the ranch, Curley leaves and Candy, the swamper who sweeps out the bunkhouse, warns George and Lennie about Curleys temper and his eagerness to fight anyone who usur ps his authority. But in this instance, George could be viewed as the instigator to the violence that follows, for he calls Curleys wife a rat-trap, a bitch, and a piece of jail-bait (Goldhurst 130), and later fully expresses his disgust at Curleys glove full of vaseline, aimed at softening his hand when he strokes his wifes genitalia. But again, Curley could have simply laughed at George and shrugged it off instead of using this episode as a springboard for more violence and sadism. Incidentally, when the other men in the bunkhouse taunt Curley about his wifes wantonness and he spies Lennie grinning about it, Curley attacks Lennie who at first does nothing to defend himself because of Georges warning about his strength. But then, due to his imbecility, Lennie grabs Curleys hand, the one with the vaseline glove, and squeezes it, thereby crushing every bone.But the most important scene in Of Mice and Men concerns the killing of Curleys wife in the barn by Lennie. As the other workmen and George are pitching horseshoes outside the barn, Lennie suddenly realizes that his puppy, given to him by Slim, the jerkline skinner, is dead as a result of his seemingly gentle and innocent caresses. As he sits down in the straw and bemoans the puppys fate, Curleys wife quickly appears from around the corner of the stalls. Her flirtatious behavior at first does not affect Lennie and he doesnt say one word to her, fearing that he would not get to feed the rabbits which George promised to him upon obtaining their own ranch. But Curleys wife gradually manages to draw Lennies attention away from the dead puppy and initiates a rather curious incidentshe convinces him to stroke her hair which he does as if she was just another plaything like his dead puppy.As Lennie continues to stroke the girls hair, she suddenly tries to pull away which infuriates Lennie, especially when she starts to scream. And just like the puppy, Lennie becomes a little to rough and breaks her neck without any awareness that she provoked her own death, due to not knowing that Lennie is nothing but a lumbering idiot with the strength of a plow horse.According to Jackson J. Benson, this scene from Of Mice and Men contains images of great power and violence, for it makes murder seem as natural and innocent as puppy love (179). As a very sizable child, Lennie amplifies the entire situation, for after killing Curleys wife, he flees to the grove near the Salinas River just as George had told him in case of any accidents on Lennies part. But this time around, George appears to be the sadist, for Lennie begins to think about living in a cave if George decides he doesnt want him around anymore.The final scene in Of Mice and Men brings the plot full circle, for Lennies contradictory values are then affirmedhis blameless, animal instincts mixed with sad humanity, his innocent longings for a pen full of rabbits which he can pet and tend to, and his grim awareness that his life may be nearing its end . When Candy, the bunkhouse sweeper, finds Curleys wife half-buried and stone dead in the hay in the barn, he calls for George who gets a gun while Candy spreads the alarm that the girl has been murdered. But when Curely is told of his wifes death, his sadistic tendencies come to a boil, for he realizes that Lennie is to blame which sets into motion a true cycle of vengeance on the part of Curley and the other hired hands at the ranch. With a loaded shotgun in hand, Curley and the other men start out in search of Lennie, the poor, dumb brute with a tendency for childish violence.But it is George who finds Lennie hiding in the bushes near the Salinas River, and soon makes up his mind to put an end to Lennies life, to punish him once more for being a bad boy. But for Lennie, badness is just a matter of opinion and taboos based on the mind of an imbecile, not consequences and responsibilities, for he does not care about nor understand the death of Curleys wife who exists for him only a s another lifeless puppy or a mouse dead from too much hard handling.In the conclusion of Steinbecks Of Mice and Men, George puts the muzzle of his gun to the back of Lennies head and pulls the trigger, an action which fully supports and reinforces the violence in the novel. In essence, all of the characters in Of Mice and Men seem to have been reared in violence; some are violent by nature, while others simply accept violent, sadistic behavior as part of the normal life of a drifter or a migrant farm worker. As Frank N. Magill so acutely observes, both George and Lennie are friendless and alone and prone to destructive violence. Both are adolescents caught in a world of chaos and rage (2145), exactly as John Steinbeck intended it. In his words, these characters exist in sweet violence which moves the reader to contemplate their puzzling fates.BIBLIOGRAPHYBenson, Jackson J. The True Adventures of John Steinbeck, Writer. New York: Viking Press, 1984.Goldhurst, William. Of Mice Men: John Steinbecks Parable of the Curse of Cain. Western American Literature. 6 (Summer 1971): 123-35.Magill, Frank N., ed. Masterplots: Digests of World Literature. New York: Salem Press, 1964.Scheer, Ronald. Of Mice Men: Novel, Play, Movie. The American Examiner. Vol. VI (Fall/Winter 1978-79): 6-39.

Ergogenic Aids Essay - 3570 Words

Ergogenic aids are substances or devices that enhance energy production, for use for recovery and provide athletes with a competitive advantage. Numerous ergogenic aids claim to enhance sports performance and are used by amateur and professional athletes. Approximately 50 percent of the general population has reported taking some form of dietary supplements, while 76 to 100 percent of athletes in some sports are reported to use them. Physicians can evaluate these products by examining four factors (method of action, available research, adverse effects, and legality) that will help them counsel patients. Common ergogenic aids include anabolic steroids, which increase muscle mass. These illegal supplements are associated with a number of†¦show more content†¦The participants were divided into four groups: those given a placebo with or without weight training, and those given 600-mg testosterone enanthate with or without weight training. Diet and training times were controlled. Fat-free mass, muscle size and strength increased more than placebo in both groups taking testosterone than in the groups taking placebo. The subjects in the exercise plus testosterone group had a 9 percent increase in mass and 23 percent increase in bench-press strength, compared with 3 percent and 9 percent, respectively, in the subjects in the exercise plus placebo group.6 These doses were comparable with the doses that many athletes who use steroids take. Adverse Effects Anabolic steroids have many adverse effects, most related to the unwanted androgenic effects. Some of the adverse effects are potentially serious and irreversible (Table 2). 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Barry Strausss The Trojan War - 1664 Words

As most know, Greek Mythology is a very complex concept that is free for interpretation and is shown in multiple ways. Many believe Greek Mythology is fiction, whereas some believe that it is nonfiction. As seen in Barry Strauss’s The Trojan War: A New History, the author argues that the Trojan War was significant and then shows evidence from as of late that supports the concept of the Trojan War actually occurring. Throughout his book he explains and gives insight into what happened during the Trojan War and how it developed based off of Homer’s writing. Strauss’s sole purpose is to inspect what was previously said about the Trojan War and evaluate it enough to the point where he is able to make logical reasoning to determine the†¦show more content†¦Once the Greeks finally arrived to their destination in Troy, Operation Beachhead comes into play, which is essentially the first battle in the Trojan War. The Greek’s stability status is significant because they needed a reliable location, which is also known as a camp. As they started reaching ashore, the Trojans were preparing their actions. In fact, the first person to die in the battle was because of King Priam’s son, Hector, who stabbed the first person to set foot on the beach. The King of Troy already had a plan set out in which he wanted to take an approach where the Trojans focus on defense, especially away from the city’s walls. As the plot of the Trojan War continues, Strauss includes the fact that the Greeks did in fact want peace with Troy and they wanted to end the long lasting feud. However, Troy did not have the same thing in mind. When asked, King Priam refused to address the fact that his son Paris humiliated King Menelaus by stealing his wife from him. Moreover, they did not agree to deliver Helen back due to the fact that it would show that they agreed with the fact that taking Helen from Menelaus was not morally correct, which would also lead to a civil war in Troy. Furthermore, Achilles attacked multiple cities in order to take from them because after multiple years of being in a war, the Greeks were gradually losing supplies. After attacking cities, he would tryShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Book The Trojan War A New History 1460 Words   |  6 Pages Adrian Olivas September 8, 2015 Classics 40 Mr. Smith 4:00 Berry Strauss’s â€Å"The Trojan War a New History† Book Review Barry Strauss, professor of classics at Cornell University attempts to redefine a one of history’s biggest love affairs, the Trojan War. Strauss explains how certain events and characters from Homers â€Å"The Odyssey† might have actually existed, but also uses modern discoveries from the Bronze Age to compare Homers account to those of Egypt, the Middle East

Bismarck Napoleon Iii And The Outbreak Of free essay sample

Bismarck, Napoleon Iii, And The Outbreak Of The Franco-Prussian War Essay, Research Paper Bismarck, Napoleon III, and the Outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War The fusion of Germany threw all of Europe off its axis. With the formation of this new power there were now five major powers alternatively of four. This would work to faze antique confederations and confound the full European continent for more than twenty old ages. Not least among the states swept of their proverbial pess was France. France was a rival with the German confederation long before it merged into one province, but the new stableness of a incorporate Germany made it a much more powerful entity. France scrambled to seek and set up a sense of security, instantly demanding compensation in the signifier of the Rhine # 8217 ; s west bank and Belgium, which Bismarck rapidly denied ( Howard 40 ) . It became rapidly obvious that these two states would be forced to a flash point and shortly. We will write a custom essay sample on Bismarck Napoleon Iii And The Outbreak Of or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As France feared for her safety, Germany feared every bit good. The recent revolutions and societal turbulences in the Republic were non shortly disregarded and Germany wanted to be safe from the possible flak catcher that could be thrown her manner by another such happening. Therefore, Germany set her oculus on recapturing the lands of Alsace and Lorraine from which Napoleon the Great had snatched decennaries before. No individual worked harder at seeking to do war with France than German Chief of Staff Carl Moltke. He saw France as the # 8220 ; familial enemy # 8221 ; ( Hwd 41 ) and desired nil more than to see her lose all of her ability to pay war on Germany. He begged frequently of Bismarck to travel to war with their neighbour and drew up programs to make so. Finally, in 1866, with the edifice of four extra rail lines ( Hwd 43 ) in Germany, Moltke was able to get down be aftering his onslaught. Meanwhile, the Gallic began to catch on to what was heading their manner. Warning s had been issued from Baron Stoffel, the Gallic military attach? in Berlin and from General Ducrot, commanding officer of the 6th Military Division ( Hwd 44 ) . It seemed that the Germans were utilizing the same maneuver that they would utilize about 50 old ages subsequently, spuring their enemies into an irrevokable stance and into war. Ducrot urged the Gallic that a preemptive work stoppage across the Rhine would catch Germany off guard and they could process all the manner to Berlin. However, the Gallic military caputs had no program in consequence for a possible affray with Germany and did non until the war was high. They toyed with the thought of a possible alliance with Austria-Hungary, but their authorities was wary of such an agreement but agreed to a ternary confederation that included Italy. This would, the Archduke estimated, make a force of about one million allied military personnels against a force of approximately half-a-million Germans ( Hwd 47 ) . Finally, the even t that would spur the war came to go through. The Hohenzollern campaigning for the Spanish Crown had come unfastened following the revolution against Queen Isabella in 1868. The Crown was ab initio refused by Prince Charles Anthony and so offered to his boy Leopold with the influence if William I. Leopold reluctantly accepted the Spanish Crown out of regard and servitude to Germany ( Hwd 48 ) . The credence of the Spanish Crown and the deficiency of anyone to denote it until considerable clip had passed outraged the Gallic and most of the balance of Europe. France took it as a smack to the face ; an effort to sabotage the security of her province. France demanded that no German prince should be consid ered ascend to the Spanish throne, which William refused to accept. William dismissed the Gallic embassador, Count Benedetti. Bismarck got air current of this narrative and leaked to the imperativeness that, â€Å"His Majesty the King thereupon decided non to have the Gallic embassador once more, and sent to state him through the adjutant on responsibility that his Majesty had nil farther to pass on to the Ambassador.† ( Hwd 55 ) Within hebdomads, the two states would be at war. The inquiry of Spain and the Hohenzollern Candidature was one that weighed to a great extent on Napoleon III’s head. Spain, under hapless leading, had become both an economic and political concern for France. Napoleon feared that a crown allied with Germany could be really harmful to France’s involvements at place and at sea ( Corley 321 ) . In an eventual war with Germany, why should he hold to worry about a strong stance being taken against France by Spain? Acerate leafs to state, he di d. He took a strong involvement in the Crown, even trusting that Isabella’s immature boy may be given the Crown. However, his bosom sank when he heard that the Spanish envoy had discussed calling Leopold to the throne. Napoleon so stepped-up his attempts for Isabella’s boy Alfonso to take the Crown by doing her officially renounce the throne to him ( Cor 327 ) . However, the point was moot, as Leopold had accepted the throne. Napoleon did non overreact, as his people did, but still feared the worst. Soon after he accepted, Leopold declined one time once more and a crisis was put on clasp. Napoleon’s advisor sent Benedetti to William to acquire confidences that he would non let Leopold to travel back and take the throne. And the remainder is history. Bismarck favored the campaigning of Leopold for â€Å"the ground of state.† ( Sempell 111 ) He wanted to see on the Spanish throne a swayer that would non be excessively influenced by Catholic confederations. Carl Anthony pressed Leopold to accept, but Leopold would merely accept if ordered to make so by William. Finally, Leopold gave in and did accept the campaigning. When Leopold rescinded, Bismarck was ferocious. The draw was over and Napoleon had won. However, it was Benedetti’s visit to William that helped Bismarck salvage face and go on with the lovely war he had hoped for. Following the Benedetti visit, William sent Bismarck a wire detailing their meeting. In itself it was rather harmless and unoffending to the Gallic diplomat and the Gallic people, but with a few lines crossed out and a word or two added, it was a perfect smack in the face. The wire was given to the imperativeness and France was speedy to declare war on Germany. It seems amusing to me how all of these wars start out with little misinterpretations and a small spot of conniving. If belligerent parties would really sit at the tabular array and listen to each other and be honest, war could likely be averted ni ne times out of 10. However, as in Bismarck’s instance, things are normally much more complicated. That old Satan. Corley, T.A.B. , Democratic Despot A Life of Napoleon III. 1961. Barrie A ; Rockliff, London.Guerard, Albert, Napoleon III A Great Life in Brief. 1966. Alfred A Knopf, New York.Kent, George O. , Bismarck and His Timess. 1978. Southen Illinois University Press, Carbondale.Howard, Michael, The Franco-Prussian War The German Invasion of France. 1962. The MacMillian Company, New York.Maurice, General J.F. , The Franco-German War. 1900. Swan Sonnenschein and Co. , Lim. , London.Sempell, Charlotte, Otto von Bismarck. 1972. Twayne Publishers, Inc. , New York