Lennie cannot be held fully responsible for this accident. Curly was the one who started beating the shit out of him in the first place. When you argue with a big boy like Lennie, you win anyway. If you win everyone will praise you and if you lose they will feel sorry for you. Curly started picking on Lennie primarily because he was laughing when Candy said, "A hand full of Vaseline" (62) in a disgusted manner. Because Curly had a short-tempered personality, he became angry quickly. His gaze flew past Candy and to Lennie, the only person in the room he could win against. Curly bluntly asked Lennie what was so funny and started an argument. Before you know it, Curly was beating Lennie. When Lennie begged for George's help, he shouted, “Take him Lennie. Don't let him do it,” (62). George was encouraging Lennie to defend himself and that's exactly what he did. Lennie held onto Curley's fist and wouldn't let go. George kept encouraging Lennie to hang on. When it went too far, the men tried to get Lennie to release Curley's fist, but he didn't care. George slapped him again and again until he finally saw Curly's white, wrinkled face and left