Conflict is a struggle between opposing forces. There can be multiple conflicts in a story. This is the case in Of Mice and Men. In chapters three and four there are conflicts of man against man, man against self, and man against society. When George and Lennie interact with the ranch workers, conflicts sometimes arise between them. Man versus man is a type of conflict in which two or more characters confront each other. Candy, an old man from the ranch, has a conflict with Carlson in chapter three. Candy's long-time friend and companion is her old dog. He's had it since he was little. Carlson tells Candy that her dog is too old and in constant pain. He says the dog is not doing himself or anyone else any good. Carlson suggests that Candy shoot her dog and take one of Slim's new puppies. After some debate, Candy reluctantly decides to let Carlson shoot and bury her dog. On page 47, Candy finally gives in and says, "Fine, take it." » Later, the men hear the shot from Carlson's gun. The major man versus man conflict in chapters three and four is Lennie versus Curley. After Curley and Slim walked in arguing about Curley's wife, Curley saw Lennie daydreaming about his farm and thought Lennie was making fun of him. Curley became agitated and punched Lennie. Lennie got scared and tried to block Curley's attacks, but he continued to hit Lennie. When George yelled at Lennie to fight back, Lennie grabbed Curley's hand and crushed it. On page 64, George yelled over and over for Lennie to let go of Curley's hand. When he finally did, the men discovered that every bone in his hand must have been broken. On page 44, Slim convinced Curley to stay quiet and tell everyone that he stuck his hand in a machine instead of holding the... middle of paper ...... Nnie enters in his room, Crooks explains how when he was a child, his family was the only black family for miles. Sometimes Crooks played with the white kids in the neighborhood. His father didn't like it, and now Crooks knew why. He now shares his father's sense of apprehension toward whites. There were various conflicts in Of Mice and Men. Some conflicts were internal – like Candy's decision to abandon her dog and George's decision to stop pranking Lennie – and others were external – like Lennie's fight with Curley and Crooks' fight against the company. The characters' interactions with other ranch workers caused external conflicts, and the characters' difficulties in making difficult decisions caused internal conflicts within the chapters. Of Mice and Men contains many conflicts, with each conflict affecting the book's storyline..