Conflict Blog (OMAM) Mon. Apr. 27th *MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS :P*

1st conflict~ Curley vs. Lennie (man vs. man)
2nd conflict~ Crooks (man vs. society)


        The first conflict I noticed throughout the book is, Curley and Lennie. On page 26, Candy tells us, "Curley's like a lot of little guys. He hates big guys." Since Lennie is a pretty big guy, you can make the assumption of Curley disliking him, because of their size difference. Of course, you cannot forget their fighting scene. According to page 62, "...and Lennie was still smiling with delight at the memory of the ranch. Curley stepped over to Lennie like a terrier. "What the he*l you laughin' at?" Lennie looked blankly at him. "Huh?" Then Curley's rage exploded. "Come on ya big bas*ard. Get up on your feet. No big son-of-a-b*tch is gonna laugh at me. I'll show you who's yella."" You can identify the tension Curley created by making a big deal out of nothing. It later goes on to describe the fighting scene. And we all know, Lennie ends up crushing Curley's hand. That kind of officially started off the entire conflict between Curley and Lennie now, since Curley cannot work without it.

      Crooks is facing the world alone. He does not have his own Lennie or George to be with. It's him against the world. No one on the ranch accepts him, or nonetheless acknowledges him, besides Slim and Lennie.  You can recognize the conflict in the story when Lennie walks into Crooks' bunk. On page 68 Crooks tells Lennie, "...you got no right to come in my room." He then later says, "Nobody got any right in here but me." You can tell by the diction of Crooks that he doesn't appreciate people coming into his room. He also tells Lennie, "I ain't wanted in the bunkhouse...'cause I'm black." You can really tell that the racism is strong and alive throughout the ranch and bunkhouse. It's him against the white men.

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OMAM Blog Mon. April 20th

  The atmosphere around the bunkhouse and ranch is hardworking, negative, and unsterile. They work hard during they. I know this because it says, "...his head still dripped water from scrubbing and dousing." (Pg. 35), if his head is dripping with water, it may be because of his job he is assigned. If he was into his work that much, that his head is dripping water, he must be a hard worker. It is also a bit negative; with they way they talk about Curley. For example, when George is talking to Lennie about Curley's attitude towards the big fella, he explicitly states, "I hate that kinda bastard..." (Pg.29). I also say unsterile because, George when he first walks in, he finds a bottle of bug repellent. It shows, that maybe Candy was just lying to him, and there was roaches or crawlers around the bunkhouse.

     I think Curley's wife doesn't have a name because; you call people by their name out of respect. Instead of saying like, him, she, her, he, it, that, you call them Diana, Siari, Evie, Chantal, etc. It could be that Steinbeck just gives her the name of 'Curley's Wife', to show disconnection of her and the men. Which is basically the theme of the book, friendship. Since Curley's Wife is the only woman out of many male, she doesn't have companionship like Lennie and George. Which would explain Candy's dog, and maybe that's why she also married Curley. Maybe she was just lonely, and that's why she is a flirt. Maybe, she is just lonely, since Curley is walking around with a hothead. But, that's my theory.

"Zebra Forest" Mon. April 13th

*MIGHT CONTAIN SPOILER ALERT(S)!!!*
Prompt: Pick three songs that go along with the book.
Book: Zebra Forest 

Links to songs~
     i.   " Jake and the Neverland" Pirates theme song
     ii.  " Little Brothers" by Phineas and Ferb
     iii. "I Can Only Imagine" by MercyMe


       The first song is a theme song to a Disney Junior show, and I thought it fit the book well, even if it is a kid's show song. I think it fits the book well, because in the beginning in the book Annie B. is telling a pirate story to Rew. She tells us in the book, "he'd started loving pirate stories in kindergarten, when he found Treasure Island." Which explains why Rew loves to hear about pirates. In fact, he thinks that his father, (who his grandma tells him he died in a fistfight), was a pirate. Rew also believes that his grandpa and Gran were pirates too because, they hid their treasures. Annie B. just goes along with it, and she makes up stories to tell Rew.

     "Little Brothers" is also from a TV show, I believe it's the episode of Phineas and Ferb, when they
get sent away to Boot Camp. Anyways, it relates to the book because, when Andrew Snow (their dad), escapes from prison, Rew looks worried when he is holding Annie B. in a chokehold. I mean, yes I know that he's practically killing her, but I think  it was still sincere. Also, in the song Candace sings even though you break my toys you are still my little brother. Or something like that. This relates to Annie and Rew because, Rew is always beating Annie in chess and vice versa with Gin Rummy. They get mad at each other and say like you cheated or this is all by luck. But, even though they are mad and sore losers, they always end up making up, because it's Annie's brother. Also, Rew is always interrupting Annie's stories. So back to square one, no matter how much Rew gets on Annie's nerves, she still loves him.

      "I Can Only Imagine" relates to this book because, Annie is always imagining what her dad is like. She always thought her dad was dead because, her grandma always told her so. She would always like to think of her dad as a pirate, secret agent, and I believe a pilot. She "can only imagine" because, well she could only guess as to know what her dad's occupation is. Although, this is a Christian song and it talks about only imagining what God's presence will be like, it really does go along with the book. Annie can only imagine as to what it will feel for her father to pick her up from school, or for her wedding and her dad isn't there.

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