Lennie is very forgetful. Lennie thinks he has lost his work card but George has it. The fact that he cannot even look after his own work card suggests that he is quite forgetful and simple minded. Also, Lennie does not learn from experience when he is “pettin mice” he pets them too hard and they always end up being dead. And George says “you always kill’em”. The reader gets this idea that Lennie does not learn which could prove to be quite dangerous in future particularly if another incident like the one in ‘Weed’ happens again. In Weed Lennie gabbed a “purty” girl’s red velvet dress and she thought he was going to rape her and because of that George and Lennie nearly got killed.
George sets up brush as a place where Lennie has to come to if he gets in trouble. “Hide in the Brush”. This suggests to the reader that trouble is predictable as George is instructing Lennie what to do if things go wrong.
This is similar in Chapter five when Curley’s wife tells Lennie to ‘pet’ her hair and as he strokes it too hard. She screams and in nervousness he grabs Curley’s wife around her neck and squeezed it so tight that she broke he neck and died. Just like he had done in Weed but the woman was not so lucky this time. Also this proves the reader’s reactions to the fact they knew and saw Lennie’s death coming one way or another, because after he kills Curley’s wife there is no way out for Lennie. George decides to go after Lennie himself, as Curley is going after him “I’m gonna shoot the guts outta that big bastard my self”. As this makes it crystal clear from the reader point of view that there is no way Lennie could escape now. George knows exactly where Lennie is (in the brush) as that was set to be Lennie’s hiding place if he got into trouble and George quickly goes after Lennie.
In Chapter two opening paragraph is about bunkhouse. It is about where the all workers slept on the ranch, where they kept their belongings and it is a dark, cold and horrible place. Steinbeck uses different colours to describe different places. In Chapter one starting paragraph he uses nice colours to describe warm setting. For example following quote says “the Salinas River drops in close to the hill side bank and runs deep green.” He uses colour green to describe the colour of Salinas River. In Chapter two starting paragraph again he uses some horrible colours to describe cooled setting. The following quotes showing that “Near one wall there was a black cast- iron stove”. He use black colour to describe the very dark and cooled place.
The reader is introduced to Curley, this just adds to the tension as Curley comes across as being really aggressive, as he likes to fight guys bigger than him. Lennie who is really simple minded and doesn’t know the difference between right and wrong is a clear target for Curley. By now the reader almost becomes certain that there is going to be trouble for Lennie. Because Curley’s reaction when he saw Lennie was “His arms gradually bent at the elbows and his hands closed into fists”. His reaction when he sees Lennie suggests to the reader that Curley will pick on Lennie as he is bigger than him in future.
Further on in Chapter two Curley’s wife is introduced. Who is referred to as being a “tart” and likes to flirt around with men “She has got the eye”. George tells Lennie to stay away from her and if he gets into trouble “return to the brush”. So the reader start to get this feeling that Lennie will get himself into a big mess as Curley’s Wife is really flirty. This is reminded of the incident in “Weed” involving an attractive girl like Curley’s Wife. So the reader almost see trouble coming foe Lennie. “I don’t like this place George” Lennie says as this is quite interesting because Lennie himself has fears about remaining on the ranch.
Very soon in Chapter three the reader’s fears are justified when Lennie gets himself into a fight with Curley. Lennie is unaware of his own strength, Curley pays with extreme consequences. Lennie’s uncontrolled strength leads to Curley’s hand being ‘bus up’. The reader sees Lennie’s reaction when he becomes nervous he hangs on to what ever he can, it happened to be Curley’s hand this time. The now the reader realizes that if Lennie gets into trouble and becomes nervous he will hang on and because he is so strong there would be terrible consequences. Despite this, he doesn’t learn. This shows the reader about how simple minded he really is.
Candy the old swampier and his “ancient dog”. Candy felling exceedingly lonely kept a dog to keep him company. His dog was his only friend. Their relationship is a parallel narrative to the one between George and Lennie, this is because one is in control of the other. However as the story progresses Carlson shoots Candy’s Dog as he is “old” and “useless”. When Candy’s dog is put down he is shot in the back of the head. Candy regrets that fact that he should have shot his own dog. “I ought to have shot that dog myself George”. So this suggests to the reader that if Lennie does get into a big trouble George could put him out of his misery as Candy suggested. So the reader almost sees it coming in a sense for Lennie.
In the end, it was always quite clear to the reader that Lennie is going to die one way or another. The story starts to build up this mood from the very start when we learn about Lennie and hear about the incident in “Weed”. And later on when Curley’s wife is introduced and her behavior clearly suggested to the reader this was always going to lead to a tragic end.