Part 3

My personal reaction to the fight between Curley and Lennie was surprised and shock filled because as small as Lennies personality is, he is physically built large and sturdier. Given the differences between Lennie's physical and mental abilities, the significance of this fight was "don't judge a book by it's cover" because Curley assumed that just because Lennie had a mental disability, that it might impact his physical capabilities as well. Well, he was wrong!

In the beginning of the fight Lennie cried, "Make 'um stop, George"(Steinbeck 63) which showcases his inner child. This affected Slim who jumped up and cried,"The dirty little rat," he cried, "I'll get 'um myself"(Steinbeck 63) because he felt bad for helpless Lennie.

As the fight went on, "The next minute Curley was flopping like a fish on a line, and his closed fist was lost in Lennie's big hand" (Steinbeck 63). Clearly, he had underestimated Lennie's physical ability because of his childish mind which is trapped in his muscular man body. This symbolizes the "don't judge a book by it's cover" quote because in the beginning, Lennie was desperately taking the pain when Curley was attacking, but it then flipped over to Lennie's actions meeting the expectations of his fit body.

Now moving backwards into time when the Weed scene occurred, this explains why Curley misjudged Lennie's physical capability since he didn't know Lennie's history with accidentally hurting others. That nightmare may have trailed back into Lennie's memory causing his momentum and strength to increase with the time it takes to snap your fingers. Had Curley known this, he may not have forgotten the important lesson of "don't judge a book by it's cover" and how to not judge an appearance to the personality hiding behind its walls.