Lennie loves to stroke things that are soft and feel nice. He loves rabbits and stroking them and looking after them.
This is a flaw in his character which got him into trouble up in Weed which is why they now have to come and work on a different ranch. Up in Weed Lennie started stroking a woman’s dress, the woman got scared and started screaming. Lennie got confused and held on to the dress. They got chased out of Weed being accused of rape. This on its own does not tell you much about what could happen in the later stages of the book but is a clue.
When George and Lennie start talking about the work cards they have George notices something in Lennie is holding in his hand “What you got in your hand,” “It’s on’y a mouse. George.” Lennie replies ( a dead mouse ), an example of how he loves to pet sort things. George gets the mouse off Lennie and throws it to the other side of the pool.
Later on George catches Lennie trying to retrieve it “You gonna give me that mouse or do I have to sock you.” George then explains that it was actually Lennie who killed the mouse “You broke it pettin’ it.” Lennie killed the mouse with is big strong hands without realising it. This shows his immense strength and that he does not realise it.
If you now look at his simple mentality, what happened in Weed and how Lennie kills a mouse without realising it this is a good mix for something bad to happen later on. All of Lennie’s flaws have been exposed and give the reader that something is going to happen because of the flaws in his character.
The next day when they get to the ranch they have been accepted for work. They meet Candy who is an old man with an old dog that is probably his best friend. Candy tells them about the people who work on the ranch including Curley’s wife. Candy explains how Curley’s wife is a “tart” and flirts with the men on the ranch. Here the reader may wonder that if Curley’s wife starts to flirt with Lennie there may be a very serious consequence.
Shortly after that Curly comes into the room. George feels that he is going to start on Lennie and has told Lennie “you try to keep away from him”
A big clue Steinbeck gives is when George tells Lennie what to do if he gets into any sort of trouble. George tells him to “hide in the brush by the river.” This is where they stayed the night before going to the ranch. This makes the reader feel that he will get into trouble and will have to hide there otherwise he would not have mentioned it.
The first time George and Lennie see Curley’s wife is in the bunkhouse just after Curley was there. Lennie looks all over her and says
“she’s purty,” George immediately realises what could happen and tell Lennie to “Leave her alone.” Here there is a link to what happened in Weed and what could likely happen here if Curley’s wife starts flirting with Lennie alone.
Steinbeck gives the reader more clues when Curley comes into the Bunkhouse and starts hitting Lennie. George tells Lennie to fight back “Get im, Lennie!” Lennie then grabs Curley’s hand and starts to crush it fiercely with his immense strength. Curley starts screaming and George tries to tell Lennie to “Leggo of him,”
Lennie continues to crush his hand only after injuring him badly lets go.
This is a fine example of how what happens if Lennie gets scared and confused.
At the end Curley’s wife is in the barn alone with Lennie and starts to flirt with him. She tells Lennie to feel her hair “Here-feel right here.” Lennie strokes her hair harmlessly but then starts to stroke harder and harder. Curley’s wife starts screaming. Lennie panics and tells her stop screaming, but she continues and finally Lennie shakes her and breaks her neck.
All of the single things that have happened have come together in that scene in what was an inevitable tragedy.
Every thing in the book has been evolved around Lennie’s mentality how he loves to stroke nice things, does not realise the brute force of his own strength and how he panics when he gets confused. After all of the incidents that have occurred during the course of the book that just keep getting worse and when you link all of it up it is almost inevitable that something was bound to happen with Lennie and Curley’s wife. Steinbeck cleverly builds up the ending and puts all the pieces together to finish the book with a dramatic ending.
