Why are george and lennie forced to flee the last town?

Of Mice and Men opens with the two main characters, George Milton and Lennie Small, walking toward Soledad, California. Steinbeck describes George as: "small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features'' (2). In contrast, Lennie is depicted as George's opposite: "a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, [and] wide sloping shoulders" (2). Steinbeck demonstrates that both men need each other for emotional support. George, though often annoyed with Lennie's childlike and troublesome behavior, recognizes that Lennie keeps him from the aching loneliness of a ranch hand's solitary life. He also recalls his promise to "Aunt Clara" to care for Lennie, who is incapable of caring for himself.

When setting up camp for the night at the Salinas riverbed, George discovers Lennie clutching a dead mouse. In a moment of foreshadowing, Steinbeck shows that Lennie has a habit of stroking soft things and killing them by accident with the force of his grip. George tells Lennie to dispose of the mouse or he is not going to let him tend rabbits on the farm they plan to own one day. George begins to tell Lennie about an idyllic piece of land where they will "[...] have a little house and a couple of acres an' a cow and some pigs and—," as Lennie exuberantly interjects, "an' live off the fatta the lan' [...] An' have rabbits'" (13). The routine reveals that this vision has been a motivating factor in the men's lives for quite some time.

During the first chapter, Steinbeck also reveals that Lennie and George were forced to leave their previous job in Weed, California because Lennie tried to feel the soft fabric of a girl’s dress, and his actions were misinterpreted as inappropriate. As a result of this experience, George decides that when they meet their new boss, Lennie should stay quiet and let George do all of the talking. Their boss becomes suspicious, but he decides to let them stay because he recognizes that Lennie's size and strength will increase productivity on the ranch.

Lennie and George settle into the bunk house that all of the ranch hands share, and they meet Candy, an older man who is missing his hand. Shortly after this, they encounter Curley, the boss's son, who immediately begins antagonizing Lennie. When George asks Candy why Curley has a chip on his shoulder, Candy says that "He is alla time picking scraps with big guys. Kind of like he's mad at 'em because he ain't a big guy" (24). This insight into Curley’s personality explains his aggressive behavior throughout the novel. It also sets him up as a contrast to Lennie, who is a “big guy” (24) but has a mild nature. 

After their foreboding meeting with Curley, Lennie and George encounter Curley's wife, who has what the workers describe as "the eye" (26). Many of these men call her a “tart.” She and Curley have only been married for a few weeks, yet she frequently stops in to talk with the workers, especially Slim, the jerkline skinner. George senses that Curley and his wife are trouble and warns Lennie to keep his distance from both of them.

That evening, Carlson, another ranch hand, complains about Candy’s elderly dog. He tells Candy to put the smelly, toothless dog out of its misery. While Candy initially refuses, a word from the wise and benign Slim changes his mind. Slim tells Candy: "Carl's right […] [t]hat dog ain't no good to himself. I wisht somebody'd shoot me if I got old an' a cripple" (43). Candy hesitantly agrees, even though, ironically, Candy himself is old and disabled. He cannot bring himself to shoot his pet, so Carlson offers to do it for him. This moment highlights society’s harsh views about individuals who are no longer able to work. The dog’s death also serves as another instance of foreshadowing. After Carlson kills the dog, Candy overhears George and Lennie's conversation about the little piece of land they hope to own. Candy offers to contribute all of his money if they will let him join them and work in the garden on their land.

Later that night, Curley comes into the bunk house and misinterprets Lennie's smile about the dream home as a personal affront. He attacks Lennie, who only fights back when George tells him to. Out of fear, Lennie grabs and crushes Curley’s hand. The men warn Curley that unless he wants to be embarrassed by the situation, he should tell people he caught his hand in a machine. Lennie is afraid that he has done something wrong, but George assures him everything is okay, and he will still be allowed to tend the rabbits on their farm. Lennie is reassured, and he goes to see the puppy that Slim had offered him earlier.

The following night all of the workers leave for a brothel they call "old Susy's" (49), and Lennie is left behind. Lennie visits his puppy in the barn. This barn is also occupied by Crooks, the disabled African-American stable hand who has worked on the ranch for years. Feeling as though his territory is being invaded, Crooks uses the opportunity to torment Lennie, suggesting that George might not come back. Lennie is immensely upset by this idea. Crooks calms Lennie down and tries to explain his own intense loneliness: "S'pose you didn't have nobody. S'pose you couldn't go into the bunk house and play rummy 'cause you was black. How'd you like that?" (69). Crooks’ speech underlines the extreme discrimination that he faces, and it also shows that he is isolated from the other men at the ranch. Lennie does not understand the significance of these comments, and he talks about his and George's plan to live together on their own small homestead. For a short span of time, Crooks imagines that he too might live on this piece of land and escape his life of inequality. But his new dream is quickly shattered after an altercation with Curley's wife, who degrades him for both his disability and his race. Crooks realizes that he could never live with the rest of the ranch hands and have the kind of life he desires. 

The next afternoon, Lennie sits by himself in the barn. Next to him lies his puppy, now dead from Lennie's forceful grip. Fearing that George will not allow him to tend the rabbits on their farm, Lennie chastises himself and tries to decide what he should do. Then Curley's wife enters the barn. She tells Lennie about her regrets, most specifically that she married Curley rather than going into "movies" and "pitchers" (84). She reveals the details of her unhappy marriage, and she explains her desire for conversation to ease her loneliness. Noticing that Lennie is more focused on rabbits than her, she asks why he is so interested in them. He tells her that he likes to pet soft things, and she lets him feel her soft hair. When he starts to accidentally hurt her, Curley's wife screams. Overcome with fear, Lennie shakes her too hard and breaks her neck. Realizing he has done something terribly wrong, Lennie returns to the riverbed where George had warned him to go if he found himself in any trouble.

When George discovers what Lennie has done, he is forced to tell the other men. Candy, sensing that this incident changes their plans, seeks reassurance from George that the two of them can still work together to get a place. George, however, responds in the negative and confirms he never quite believed in the reality of the dream in the first place. Curley is furious and wants to kill Lennie himself. Knowing that Curley will kill Lennie in an inhumane manner, George is forced to make a decision out of the deep concern he has for his friend. Taking the same pistol that killed Candy's dog, George goes down to the riverbed to find Lennie. Lennie is relieved to see George and asks him to talk about the home they are going to own. George obliges, but tells Lennie to look out across the water. While Lennie is looking across the river bank and listening to George's story, George shoots him in the back of the head.

When the men reach George and Lennie, they assume George wrested the pistol from Lennie in order to kill him. The only person to show remorse and empathy is Slim, who tells George, "You hadda George. I swear you hadda" (102). Slim knew that George killed Lennie because he cared enough about him to not condemn him to Curley's cruelty or allow society to "[…] lock him up an' strap him down and put him in a cage" (92). Slim and George exit the scene to get a drink, leaving the rest of the men to watch them in bewilderment.

Why did Steinbeck choose the title Of Mice and Men?

Steinbeck chose the title Of Mice and Men after reading a poem called “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns, in which the poet regrets accidentally destroying a mouse’s nest. The poem resonates with several of Of Mice and Men’s central themes: the impermanence of home and the harshness of life for the most vulnerable.

The struggles of the mouse whose home is destroyed parallels with the struggles of George, Lennie, and other migrant workers whose dreams of purchasing land are destroyed by the trials of the Great Depression. Their own fate is not so different from the poem’s mouse, or the dead mouse Lennie pulls from his pocket—the characters are destined for destruction beyond their control.

In the town of Weed, Lennie—a lover of soft things—touched a girl’s dress, became frightened when she started to “squawk,” and was accused of rape after the girl reported Lennie to the authorities. The men of Weed ran George and Lennie out of town, and the two escaped by hiding in an irrigation ditch until nightfall. This anecdote foreshadows the death of Curley’s wife, which happens as a result of a nearly identical misunderstanding. Because George observes first-hand the misunderstanding in Weed, he can be sure that Lennie is not guilty of deliberately murdering Curley’s wife (and so can the reader).

Why does Carlson shoot Candy’s dog?

Carlson shoots Candy’s dog because it is old, sick, and no longer able to work as a sheep dog. Carlson says the dog “ain’t no good” to Candy, unable to see that the dog still has value as Candy’s friend and companion. This assertion reveals how in the world of migrant laborers, companionship is so rare and undervalued that many laborers don’t even recognize a loving relationship when they do see it. The shooting of Candy’s dog is also framed as a merciful act intended to prevent the dog’s suffering, which foreshadows George’s decision to shoot Lennie rather than let him be imprisoned or tortured by Curley.

Why does Curley attack Lennie?

After Slim denies Curley’s accusation that he was hanging around Curley’s wife, Curley looks to take his anger out on an easier target, and chooses Lennie. Lennie is “smiling with delight” as he dreams about the future farm, ignorant that he has attracted Curley’s humiliated anger. By picking on Lennie, Curley demonstrates that he is willing to prey on the most vulnerable in order to maintain his dominance over the workers. Of Mice and Men suggests that this is one way that the property-owning classes uphold their power.

Why does George kill Lennie?

George knows that if he doesn’t kill Lennie himself, Curley will torture and murder Lennie in a more inhumane way, making Lennie suffer for killing Curley's wife. George must choose between mercifully shooting the friend he loves with his own hands, or allowing Lennie’s inevitable lynching by a mob that does not care about Lennie’s fate. Of Mice and Men argues that on the bottom rung of the American economy, the destitute are left with only stark and terrible choices.

Why does Lennie have a dead mouse in his pocket?

As the story begins, Lennie has a dead mouse in his pocket because he likes to pet soft things but doesn’t know his own strength and accidentally killed the mouse when he pet it too hard. When George realizes that Lennie has a dead mouse in his pocket, he asks him what he would “want of a dead mouse, anyways,” and Lennie explains that he “could pet it with [his] thumb while [they] walked along.” Even after George throws the mouse into the woods, Lennie finds it and tries to hide it once again, saying, “I wasn’t doin’ nothing bad with it, George. Jus’ strokin’ it.” The dead mouse introduces Lennie’s clear obsession with soft things and unintentional destruction of them, foreshadowing future events in the story.

How is Lennie different from the other men?

From the first pages of the novella, Steinbeck makes it clear that Lennie is different. Despite his large size, he comes across as childlike, and George seems to have to take care of him. For example, George warns Lennie not to drink too much water and has to repeatedly remind him where they are heading, saying, “So you forgot that awready, did you? I gotta tell you again, do I?”

It is not until later in the story when George confides in Slim that readers learn some clues about Lennie’s “differences.” George says, “He ain’t no cuckoo . . . He’s dumb as hell, but he ain’t crazy . . . I knowed his Aunt Clara. She took him in when he was a baby and raised him up.” Even though there is never a specific diagnosis given to Lennie, he seems to have a different intellectual ability than the other adult men just as Slim describes when he says, “He’s jes’ like a kid, ain’t he.

Why do George and Lennie travel together?

George and Lennie travel together because they have known each other since they were children and a natural friendship developed over time. George explains their history when he confides in Slim, saying, “Him and me was both born in Auburn. I knowed his Aunt Clara. She took him in when he was a baby and raised him up. When his Aunt Clara died, Lennie just come along with me out workin’. Got kinda used to each other after a little while.” George explains to Slim that even though Lennie can be a challenge, their friendship and companionship make life better for both of them.

Why does Curley wear a glove on one hand?

Curley wears a “glove fulla Vaseline” on one hand because, according to Candy, “he’s keepin’ that hand soft for his wife.” Since farm work is physical and tough on a person’s hands, the Vaseline will prevent at least one of Curley’s hands from becoming chapped and rough—something he clearly believes his wife would find undesirable. The choice to wear the Vaseline-filled glove reveals a lot about Curley’s character, such as his need to feel superior in strength but also in sexuality.

Later in the novella, George refers to the glove once again, saying disgustedly, “Glove fulla Vaseline . . . An’ I bet he’s eatin’ raw eggs and writin’ to the patent medicine houses.” During this story’s time period of the 1930s, both of these “remedies” were believed to increase physical and sexual strength in men, so George makes assumptions about Curley due to his wife’s flirty behavior and the glove full of Vaseline.

How does Lennie’s puppy die?

Like many of Lennie’s destructive incidents, his puppy dies because Lennie can’t control his own strength. After sadly staring at the dead puppy for a while, Lennie, sorrowful and confused, asks aloud, “Why do you got to get killed? You ain’t so little as mice. I didn’t bounce you hard.” Later, Lennie attempts to explain how the puppy died to Curley’s wife, saying, “He was so little . . . I was jus’ playin’ with him . . . an’ he made like he’s gonna bite me . . . an’ I made like I was gonna smack him . . . an’ . . . an’ I done it. An’ then he was dead.” Both of Lennie’s explanations make it clear that while he didn’t intend to hurt the puppy, his inability to control his own strength caused the puppy’s death.

Why does Lennie kill Curley’s wife?

Lennie kills Curley’s wife because of his inability to control his own strength and emotions. However, Lennie doesn’t simply kill her—several unfortunate events lead to her death. First, Curley’s wife insists on talking with Lennie even after he warns her that he “ain’t supposed to” because “George’s scared [he’ll] get in trouble.” Then Curley’s wife invites Lennie to pet her soft hair, but when he gets too rough, she “jerked her head sideways, and Lennie’s fingers closed on her hair and hung on.”

Finally, when Curley’s wife yells at Lennie to let go, he panics in fear that George will get mad and not let him tend the rabbits, so he puts his hand over her mouth. The more Curley’s wife struggles and yells, the angrier and more scared Lennie becomes, leading him to shake her harder until “she was still, for [he] had broken her neck.”

Why is Crooks’s room set apart from the others?

Race is the central reason why Crooks has his own room set apart from the other men at the ranch. When Lennie visits Crooks’s room trying to make friends, Crooks keeps his guard up and explains the situation, saying, “You got no right to come in my room . . . You go on get outta my room. I ain’t wanted in the bunk house, and you ain’t wanted in my room.”

When Lennie persists and asks why Crooks is not allowed in the bunkhouse, Crooks presents the clear racial reasoning when he says, “ʼCause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink. Well, I tell you, you all of you stink to me.” This segregation presents the larger topic of racism and social position throughout this story as Crooks is ultimately “put in his place” just as the ranch workers have their place in the lowly bunkhouse.

Why isn’t Curley’s wife’s name ever revealed?

Curley’s wife’s name is never revealed as a way of showing her lack of independence and identity while also displaying the role of women on a ranch in the 1930s. In other words, she is Curley’s possession, confined to a dependent role as “wife.” Curley’s wife’s unhappiness and regret are directly connected to this lack of autonomy. She confides to Lennie, “I ain’t used to livin’ like this. I coulda made somethin’ of myself . . . Maybe I will yet . . . I don’ like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella . . . Coulda been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes[.]” Clearly, Curley’s wife’s discontent is directly linked to the fact that she has lost her identity by marrying Curley.

What does Slim do at the ranch?

Slim’s job at the ranch is a jerkline skinner, the head mule driver, and “the prince of the ranch, capable of driving ten, sixteen, even twenty mules with a single line to the leaders.” Aside from Slim’s specific job at the ranch, he is looked up to by all, making him a leader in his work and among the men: “There was a gravity in his manner and a quiet so profound that all talk stopped when he spoke. His authority was so great that his word was taken on any subject, be it politics or love.” Slim holds an unchanging, respected role at the ranch.

Do George and Candy still plan to buy the dream farm after Lennie’s death?

George and Candy give up on the plan to buy the dream farm once they realize that Lennie has killed Curley’s wife and his future is bleak. Without Lennie, the hope of the dream of escaping their difficult life as ranchers is washed away. After desperately trying to hold on to the possibility of still pursuing the dream of owning land, Candy asks, “‘You an’ me can get that little place, can’t we, George? . . . Can’t we?’ Before George answered, Candy dropped his head and looked down at the hay. He knew.” George explains that he only believed they would buy a farm one day because Lennie liked to hear about it so much.