When the voices of the ranch hands come closer, George asks Lennie to look away and try to
picture the farm in his mind. As Lennie stares out across the stream, George continues to talk
about the rabbits and tells Lennie he will soon be in a place where no one can hurt him. As he
speaks, George takes Carlson’s pistol and raises it behind Lennie’s head, without the latter
noticing. George pulls the trigger, and Lennie falls down dead. Hearing the gun shot, the men
rush towards the sound. They are surprised to find the dead Lennie with George standing next to
him. The men ask if Lennie had Carlson’s gun, and George nods a ‘yes’. The men praise George
for a good job. Only Slim has any understanding of what has really happened. He tells George
that sometimes things just have to be done and insists upon buying George a drink. As they
leave, Slim assures George that “you hadda. . .I swear you hadda.”
Notes
Steinbeck has masterfully and powerfully created the last chapter. The novel ends by the stream,
in the same place it began. The repetition of the setting binds the story together. The pastoral
setting by the stream, however, is not as peaceful at the end of the novel. Between the start and
finish of the book, there have been a series of deaths. Candy’s dog has been shot to put it out of
its misery, and Lennie has killed his puppy by petting it too hard. Most importantly, Lennie has
accidentally killed Curley’s wife, which he knows is a terrible thing. As he sits by the stream
waiting for George, he is very troubled, and his imagination runs wild. He has visions of his
Aunt Clara and of a giant rabbit. Both scold him for his irresponsible behavior and the trouble
that he has caused George.
The chapter is filled with pathos. Lennie knows he has done something bad, but his simple mind
is unable to grasp the depth of trouble that he is in. He has no idea that his act is punishable by
death. His only concern is that George will be angry with him and might not let him tend the
rabbits. He even thinks again about going off and living by himself in order to save George from
having to put up with him. When the big rabbit in his vision taunts him, saying he is not worthy
of tending rabbits and that George is going to beat him for his behavior, Lennie cannot take it.
He tells the rabbit that George would never be mean to him. Not wanting to hear more, Lennie
then covers his ears and screams for George.
When George arrives at the stream, he already knows what he must do. He cannot allow the
ranch hands to cruelly kill his friend; instead, he will use Carlson’s pistol to do the horrible deed
himself. He does not want to be like Old Candy, regretting that he allowed someone else to kill
his best friend, his old dog. George also knows he will perform the act as quickly, kindly, and
mercifully as possible. First, however, he wants to calm Lennie down. He paints for him a
picture of their planned farm and asks Lennie to look away and imagine it. George wants Lennie
to die in happiness, believing the dream will come true. He also does not want Lennie to realize
what is happening to him; he does not want his friend to feel betrayed. It is important to realize
that Steinbeck shows George’s action to be one of mercy and kindness. He is faithful, loving, and
compassionate to Lennie to the very end, selflessly doing the thing that is hardest for him to do
in life.
Curley is furious, almost irrational, in this last chapter, but ironically the death of his wife wins
him great sympathy and support from the ranch hands. Until her murder, everyone on the ranch
had hated Curley. Now everyone rallies around him against Lennie. They also rally around
George when they realize he has killed Lennie. Earlier the men had shown great concern for
Candy over the killing of his dog. Unfortunately, they do not show the same respect and concern
to George over losing his companion and friend. Slim is the only one who understands how
George feels. As they walk away together for a drink, the mood is tragic. All hope for a better
future for George or Candy is lost, for the dream has died with Lennie.
OVERALL ANALYSES
CHARACTERS
George
George is the protagonist and one of the two main characters in Of Mice and Men. A
compassionate, kind, responsible, patient, and understanding man, he faithfully watches out for
Lennie, his retarded friend and constant companion. When Lennie gets into trouble, George
always helps him find a solution or get away. George is also shown to be a thinking person. He
knows he must discipline Lennie in order to help him, and he is often seen telling Lennie what he
has done wrong and what he must do to improve. He is also a planner, telling Lennie where he
should go if there is trouble on the ranch. He also works hard to make the dream of owing a ten-
acre farm become a reality. Unlike the other ranch hands that squander their money on women
and drink, George refuses to spend a dime frivolously, saving everything to make the dream
come true. He wants to buy the farm so that he and Lennie can live there, free from problems and
constraints caused by society.
Sometimes George is portrayed as an angry man, for he gets frustrated with Lennie’s slowness.
Although he scolds and even screams at him, he is never intentionally mean or cruel. Several
times George thinks about what he could do if Lennie were not around, but they are just idle
thoughts. George is legally free to desert the retarded man at any point in time; emotionally,
however, he is entirely bound to Lennie, as his protector and companion. Lennie also keeps
George from feeling the isolation and loneliness that possess the other ranch hands.
Because George cares for Lennie so deeply, he cannot allow him to die brutally at the hands of
Curley and the angry ranch hands. After painting the picture of the farm in Lennie’s mind one
last time, he takes Carlson’s pistol and mercifully shoots his friend, in a totally selfless act of
kindness. It was a terribly difficult thing for George to do, and at the end of the book, Steinbeck
paints him feeling lost and alone without his faithful companion and without a dream to keep
him going.
Lennie
Lennie is George’s friend and constant companion, who is mentally retarded and highly
dependent on George. He suffers from a child’s mentality within a giant’s body. He is innocent
and forgetful like a child. He is also attracted to small, soft things because of his child-like,
gentle nature. Unfortunately, he often harms the things he loves accidentally. As a huge man
with heavy arms and powerful hands, he does not know or understand his own strength.
Lennie idolizes George, his kind caretaker, almost like a god. In Lennie’s eyes, George is totally
kind, faithful, and good. He tries hard to remember everything George tells him to do and obeys
him implicitly without asking any questions. Even though Lennie did not know how to swim, he
jumped in a river one time when George jokingly told him to do so. Because Lennie is slow,
forgetful, and powerful, he causes trouble for George wherever they go. They had to leave the
last job because Lennie reached out and grabbed the dress of a little girl and would not let go.
When she screamed, the townspeople came and blamed Lennie for attempted rape.
Lennie never means to cause problems. He did not mean to kill his puppy and greatly regrets that
it is dead. He tries to stay away from Curley and his wife, as George suggested. She, however,
comes to Lennie in the barn and tells him he can stroke her hair. When he is too rough, she
begins to scream and Lennie panics. When he covers her mouth and shakes her to be quiet, he
accidentally breaks her neck.
Throughout the book Lennie is portrayed as a dreamer. He longs to go and live on a farm with
George, away from the pressures and frustration of a society that always gets him in trouble. He
constantly dreams of raising soft rabbits to be his pets on the farm. He senses that there are
problems on the ranch and with Curley and begs George to take him away to the farm. At the end
of the novel, when he and George talk by the stream, Lennie again senses trouble and begs
George to get the farm quickly. When George pulls the trigger, Lennie is dreaming about the
farm and the rabbits, therefore, dying happily.
Candy
Candy is a very old ranch hand who is crippled and lonely. Steinbeck paints him as the sad,
stereotyped symbol of old age, a man whose life is void of friends and hope. His dog, who is his
only companion, is very much like him, old and crippled; but he also stinks and is blind. As a
result, the ranch hands insist that Candy allow them to shoot the old mutt. When the dog is dead,
Candy truly has nothing, no reason for existence. Then he overhears George and Lennie
discussing their dream of owning a farm. Candy asks permission to join them and offers his life
savings to help purchase the land. He wants to live his last days with a feeling of peace and
belonging. At the end of his days, Candy does not want to be treated like his old dog.
When Candy finds Curley’s wife dead, he is emotionally devastated and curses her body, not
because she has been killed, but because she put an end to his dream. He instinctively knows
who has killed Curley’s wife and what will happen to Lennie. As he realizes there will not be a
farm without Lennie, “His eyes are blinded with tears.” He is left only with the reality of his
lonely and isolated existence on the ranch.
Curley’s wife
Curley’s wife, the only woman on the ranch, is really a minor character in the story. In fact, she is
never actually named in the course of the book. She serves only as the instrument of the
destruction of Lennie and the dream. Steinbeck is not kind in his brief portrayal of her. She is a
coarse, vulgar woman who wears too much make-up and flirts with every ranch hand. She has
married Curley only because she had no other offers. Her true dream was to become an actress,
but the man who was supposed to help her get in the movies failed her.
Like all the characters on the ranch, other than Lennie and George, Curley’s wife feels very
lonely and isolated. She seems to hate her husband, as evidenced when she compliments Lennie
for crushing Curley’s right hand and granting permission for him to crush the other if need be.
She constantly looks for company and longs for an emotional attachment, seeking it in all the
wrong ways. It is strongly hinted that she has committed adultery, for Curley is always on the
lookout for her whereabouts, as if fearful of her disloyalty. It is her loneliness and her flirtatious
ways that lead her to her death. She sits beside Lennie in the barn, even though he protests
against it. Then she asks him to stroke her hair. It is a fatal mistake for her, because Lennie
cannot be gentle. When she screams out of fear for his strength, Lennie panics. He covers her
mouth and shakes her to be quiet; in the process he breaks her neck.
Curley
Curley is the boss’ son, who has a short stature and a large temper. To make up for his small size,
he became a lightweight boxer. Now he constantly tries to pick fights, especially with people
bigger than himself, gaining great pleasure over their defeat. Curley’s attitude suggests that he
has a grudge against everyone whom he meets. He is overly possessive of his wife and suspects
that every man on the ranch desires her. He wears a glove full of Vaseline to keep his hand soft
for her and it becomes a source of constant jokes amongst the ranch hands. Though he seems to
love his wife, he is an immoral character, visiting brothels on Saturday nights.
When Curley picks a fight with the giant Lennie, he bites off more than he can handle. Lennie
quickly crushes his hand, and Curley has to be taken to the hospital. He vows to get revenge on
Lennie. His opportunity comes quickly. When Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife, her
husband shows no mercy. He quickly organizes a search party to look for Lennie and promises to
kill him immediately. Although Curley has been hated for his meanness throughout the book, the
ranch hands now rally round him.
Armed and ready, they go off with Curley to search for Lennie, eager for blood. Ironically,
George stands in the way of Curley’s being able to get his revenge, for he mercifully kills Lennie
to save him from Curley’s wrath and a brutal death.
Slim
Compared to his co-workers, Slim is confident in his conduct and clear in his speech. As a result,
he is treated with respect on the ranch. Steinbeck portrays him as a thinker, “His ears heard more
than was said to him, and his slow speech had overtones not of thought, but of understanding
beyond thought.” He is quite surprised to see the loyalty and companionship of George and
Lennie and comments, “Ain’t many guys travel around together, I don’t know why. May be
everybody in the whole damn world is scared of each other.” He is a good judge of people and
quickly understands, that in spite of his size, “Lennie ain’t mean”. When Lennie crushes Curley’s
hand, it is Slim who convinces him not to tell anyone about his fight with Lennie. He is also the
only one to understand why George has shot Lennie at the end of the novel and reassures him
that he had to do it. He then insists upon taking George into town and buying him a drink.
PLOT (Structure)
Of Mice and Men is almost a long short story, divided into six chapters. Steinbeck takes great
care to develop the tragic plot in a classical fashion. The first two chapters are largely expository,
describing the isolated setting, introducing the characters, and developing the relationship
between Lennie and George. The rising action begins in the third chapter with the confrontation
between Curley and Lennie. When the huge man easily crushes Curley’s hand, his strength is
actually seen for the first time and foreshadows that there will be trouble on the ranch. The fourth
part of the book focuses on the theme of loneliness and develops Curley’s wife, who is shown to
be a lonely woman, constantly seeking company. In the fifth chapter, her loneliness leads her
into the barn, where she engages Lennie in conversation. It has been clearly foreshadowed that
nothing good can happen in this encounter. In fact, Curley’s wife is the instrument causing the
tragic ending of the book. In a flirtatious manner, she asks Lennie to stroke her soft hair. When
she feels his powerful hands that do not know how to be gentle, she panics, screams for help, and
brin