Curley's aggressive behavior always suggests the possibility of violence no matter who he is with. When George and Lennie first meet him, Curley is aggressive and demands that Lennie should speak for himself. Curley leaves and the swamper explains why Curley might be more inclined to pick a fight with Lennie:
Well . . . . tell you what. Curley’s like alot of little guys. He hates big guys. He’s alla time picking scraps with big guys. Kind of like he’s mad at ‘em because he ain’t a big guy. You seen little guys like that, ain’t you? Always scrappy?
At the end of Chapter 3, Curley is frustrated because he can not keep track of his wife. He gets into an argument with Slim and Carlson about it. Lennie watches with a grin on his face. Lennie is still smiling absentmindedly because he is thinking of the rabbits. Curley thinks Lennie is mocking him. Curley starts throwing punches. Lennie is frightened but will not retaliate until George tells him to. Lennie gets the green light and catches a punch and crushes Curley's hand. This scene is the most overt display of the violence between these two characters. And it had all been instigated by Curley. Lennie, being as strong as a bull, has a great potential for violence but he never has evil intentions. Curley is quite the opposite. He has the potential for violence and his intentions are evil, or at least self-serving. He fights to assert his manhood. Lennie would have no problem with others perceiving him as a harmless, peaceful man.
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