When the Boss arrives to meet them, George explains why they are late, and the Boss seems to understand although he is not happy. The Boss asks George and Lennie's particulars and writes them down, but he is suspicious about George, whom he thinks is tricking Lennie out of his pay. George lies to the Boss, telling him that Lennie is his retarded cousin. The Boss is satisfied, and tells them to go out to work after dinner.
After the Boss has left, George talks to Lennie, who had forgotten his vow not to say anything to the Boss. George chastises him for this failure. They converse a little more, until George finds old Candy eavesdropping on them. He is worried because Candy now knows that Lennie is not really George's retarded cousin, but Candy reassures George that he will not tell anybody else.
Just then, Curley, the Boss' son enters the bunkhouse, and rudely asks where his father is. After Candy tells him, Curley notices George and Lennie. For some reason he immediately hates Lennie, and almost starts a fight. When Curley leaves, Candy explains that Curley, being rather diminutive in size, hates big guys.
However, Candy warns that Curley is dangerous despite his size, because he knows how to box. Candy also remarks that Curley's behaviour seems to have worsened since his marriage.
George is very worried by the encounter with Curley, and sees trouble ahead. He reminds Lennie that if he ever gets into trouble he should run down to the brush by the river and wait for George.
Curley's wife appears and says she is looking for Curley. While George and Curley's wife talk, Lennie stares at her, entranced. When she has left, George angrily scolds Lennie, telling him to stay away from Curley's wife.
Later, Lennie and George meet Slim. He is a jerkline skinner on the ranch, and has earned a lot of respect from everybody. They also meet Carlson. Both men seem friendly, and after talking for a while, Carlson and Slim go to dinner. While they were talking, Slim had revealed that his dog had just had puppies. Lennie is excited, because he has always wanted a puppy to pet.
Once again Curley enters the bunkhouse, this time looking for his wife. After he leaves, George and Lennie go and get their dinner.
Chapter Three
After going out to work after dinner, George and Slim have a conversation in the bunkhouse. Lennie is in the barn, petting the puppy which Slim has just given him, and the other men are outside playing a game of horseshoes.
During their conversation, George takes Slim into his confidence and reveals all of his secrets, including how and why he and Lennie were run out of Weed. He also tells Slim that he and Lennie grew up together and he has taken care of Lennie ever since his Aunt Clara died. Slim understands that Lennie doesn't do bad things on purpose. he just gets into trouble because he is not very bright.
Later, Lennie tries to sneak his puppy into bed with him, although he has been told not to take the puppy away from its mother or else it would die. This incident makes Slim realise how childlike Lennie really is.
After Lennie takes the puppy back to the barn, Candy comes in with his old dog. Carlson also comes in, and tries to persuade Candy to kill his dog because it smells so badly and it is painful for the dog to be kept alive at such an old age. Candy is reluctant to have the dog killed since he has had it since it was a puppy, but eventually Slim convinces him it is best, and Carlson goes off to kill it.
Slim attempts to console Candy by offering him one of his puppies, but Candy doesn't respond. Even when he hears the gunshots he remains quiet.
Crooks, the Negro stable buck who lives in a room in the barn, reminds Slim that he has to put tar on a mule's foot, so Slim leaves for the barn.
Later, Curley enters the bunkhouse, looking for his wife. He immediately notices Slim's absence, and is suspicious, thinking that Slim is having an affair with his wife. Most of the men follow Curley, who rushes off to the barn. They think there will be a fight.
George asks Lennie if he saw Curley's wife in the barn but Lennie says he did not.
Lennie and George start talking about their dream house again, and they are startled when Candy interrupts them. They had forgotten his presence, since he hadn't said anything since his dog was killed.
Candy is very interested in George and Lennie's dream, as he also shares it. He offers to give them a substantial sum of money to buy the house if they will let him stay with them, and after a while they agree. Within one month they should have the money. George decides to write to the owners of the house and ask them to save it for one month.
Just then, all of the men return to the bunkhouse. Curley is apologising to Slim for having accused him. Curley and Carlson get into an argument and when Curley sees Lennie smiling at the thought of buying the house, he thinks Lennie is laughing at him.
Curley attacks Lennie. At first Lennie does nothing to protect himself, but when George tells him to he fights back, and in the process crushes Curley's hand.
After the fight, the men take Curley to a doctor in Soledad. Curley agreed not to tell anyone that Lennie broke his hand. Everybody agrees on the story that Curley got his hand caught in a machine.
Chapter Four
On Saturday night, most of the labourers from the ranch are in town having fun. Only Candy, Crooks and Lennie are left behind.
Lennie visits Crooks in his room in the barn. At first, Crooks seems angry that Lennie has violated his privacy, but he is in fact glad for company. He is usually very lonely since he is a Negro and people are prejudiced against him.
Crooks thinks Lennie is crazy when he mentions how he wants to own rabbits. He tries to explain the loneliness he feels as a result of being a different colour, but Lennie is too preoccupied with his worries about George to pay much attention.
Later, Candy also joins Lennie and Crooks, and he also reveals their plans about owning the house, although George had told both Lennie and Candy not to say anything. Crooks laughs scornfully, saying that their dream will never come true. However, when Candy explains that all three men are going to pool their money in one month, and actually buy the house, Crooks starts to believe them, and even offers to lend his help working on their land if they will let him stay in the house too.
At that moment, Curley's wife, who had sneaked up on the three men, interrupts them, saying she is looking for Curley. In fact she knows that Curley is probably in town with a prostitute, and is only looking for some company.
Candy and Curley's wife get into an argument, and Crooks suggests that she leave. Curley's wife refuses, saying that she is lonely.
She asks the men what happened to Curley's hand, and immediately sees through their lies. She becomes angry, and insults them all. When she notices bruises on Lennie's face she quickly deduces that it was he who fought her husband.
After some further discussion and argument, during which Curley's wife insults and humiliates Crooks, Candy says he hears the men returning, and Curley's wife leaves, fearing Curley's anger. Soon after this, Candy and Lennie leave as well, and a downhearted Crooks withdraws his offer to lend his support when they buy their home.
Chapter Five
The next afternoon, Lennie is in the barn. All of the other men are outside playing a game of horseshoes, and Lennie's only company is his dead puppy. Lennie had accidentally killed it. He fears that George will not let him tend and feed the rabbits if George knows that he killed the puppy.
While Lennie wonders what to do, Curley's wife appears. She tries to get Lennie to talk to her, but Lennie is reluctant, since George had threatened to forbid him from tending his rabbits if Lennie ever did so. When she directs Lennie's attention to his puppy, though, Lennie forgets about not talking to her. He explains everything to her.
Curley's wife listens sympathetically, and she tells Lennie about her aspirations of being an actress, and how she believes her mother deliberately thwarted her plans.
She becomes angered by Lennie's continual references to rabbits, and asks him what his attraction to them is. Lennie explains that he likes to touch and pet soft things, like rabbit fur.
Curley's wife allows Lennie to stroke her hair, but panics when he won't let go. She begins to struggle and scream, and Lennie, also in a state of panic, shakes her to make her stop. However, he shakes her so violently that her neck is broken and she dies instantly.
Lennie knows that he has done another bad thing and remembers that George told him to go and hide in the brush down by the river, so he quickly runs there.
Sometime later, Candy enters the barn and discovers the body of Curley's wife. He runs and fetches George.
George realises what has happened, and says that he has to tell the others. Candy protests, rightly pointing out that Curley would deliver no mercy to anyone who had killed his wife. Candy is in favour of letting Lennie escape. He asks George if it is still possible to buy the house, but his dreams are shattered when George says it isn't.
When George tells the labourers the news, they all go into a frenzy, and seem affected by blood lust. Curley is furious and vows to kill Lennie. Carlson rushes off to get his gun, and even Whit wants to join in the hunt.
Carlson reports that his gun has been stolen, and everyone thinks that Lennie is responsible. George begs Curley to have mercy on his companion, but Curley says he can't because Lennie has a gun. All of the men run off except for Candy, who lies down in despair.
Chapter Six
Lennie waits for George by the bank of the river. While he waits, he imagines his Aunt Clara and a giant rabbit scolding him for his bad deeds, and telling him that George will beat him and abandon him.
Lennie is delighted when George arrives, but puzzled over George's failure to
give him hell.
George makes a half-hearted attempt and Lennie is happier. Lennie persuades George to tell him his favourite story again, and George agrees. He tells Lennie to look over the river and imagine the house as if it were right there.
As he tells the story, he removes Carlson's gun from his pocket. As he tells Lennie the story, he can hear the shouts of men looking for Lennie.
Finally, after telling Lennie the whole story, George realises that he has to kill Lennie, and does so quickly, shooting him with Carlson's luger.
Moments later, the other men arrive, and are amazed that George managed to get the gun away from Lennie and then shoot him with it. Only Slim realises what really happened, and offers to console George. The two friends walk off together, leaving Carlson and Curley behind.
George Milton
George is Lennie's companion, and was asked to look after Lennie by Lennie's Aunt Clara before she died. Since then, he has travelled around, looking for work with Lennie.
George is a kind man. He travels with Lennie and helps him to survive although Lennie is more of a burden than a help, and creates many problems for him. He is also friendly, and almost immediately makes friends with Candy, Carlson, Slim, and the other ranch hands.
He has matured a lot since the incident he relates to Slim where he made Lennie jump into a river just for fun. He realises that Lennie depends on him, and needs him to survive.
George often insults Lennie and 'gives him hell', but he doesn't really mean it. Although he often talks about how well off he could be without Lennie he secretly doesn't want Lennie to leave, and when Lennie offers to do so in the first chapter, George virtually pleads with him to stay. This is because George also depends on Lennie to a certain extent for his unconditional friendship.
George is intelligent, as Slim points out in chapter three, but also modest in denying being smart. He expresses his desire to be different from other ranch hands who merely work for a month and then spend all of their money, but also realistically realises that his dream of owning a house with Lennie (or anyone else) is unlikely to ever come true.
Overall, George is an intelligent and kind character. He is thoughtful enough to realise that the best thing for Lennie is to shoot him, for the alternatives are even worse, and compassionate enough to kill Lennie himself.
Lennie Small
Lennie is a massive, extremely strong man, who has no living relatives. He travels about the country searching for work with his companion, George. Lennie's Aunt Clara had asked George to take care of Lennie if she ever died.
The most obvious feature of Lennieð's character is that he seems to be retarded somehow. He is a man who has the mind of a child. Slim is one of the first characters to notice this, remarking that Lennie is
'Jes' like a kid'
and Curley's wife also comments on how he is
'Jus' like a big baby'.
Lennie doesn't know his own strength, and this is one of the things which lead to his eventual downfall. He realises that he is strong as a bull, but he can't judge how much force to use for certain actions. That is why he kills his pets, when he only intends to pet them and play with them.
It is this inability to judge his strength, combined with his desire to pet things and Curley's wife's desire to be petted and admired which leads to Lennie's inevitable death. The ability to judge one's own strength is one of the first signs of maturity, and it is important that Lennie doesn't have this ability.
Despite the major flaws in his character he is amiable and friendly, and doesn't do any of the bad things he does on purpose.
He has a poor memory, and has to repeat things to himself many times to remember them. Even then, he still forgets them.
He has a sort of blind faith in George, trusting in George to protect him and look after his welfare. For example, remember the incident George describes to Slim when he told Lennie to jump in a river and Lennie obeyed, without a thought to his own well being. This illustrates Lennie's trust in George, and also his immaturity.
However, it must be noted that Lennie can still be quite crafty, as when he cunningly persuades George to tell him the story about the rabbits by threatening to leave him.
Curley's Wife
Most of the ranch hands except for Slim brand Curley's wife as a 'tart'. In fact, she is portrayed as such whenever she appears, obviously playing up to and teasing the men.
She is cruel to Crooks, Candy and Lennie in Crooks' room, and later on she tempts Lennie, letting him stroke her hair in the barn, and kneeling beside him in the hay in a provocative way?
We can definitely say that she is lonely. She says so several times, and that is to be expected since she is stuck on a ranch with men who dislike her and rarely talk to her.
However, she attempts to overcome her loneliness in the wrong way. George immediately realises that she means trouble when she first turns up in the bunkhouse, and it is hardly surprising that her actions lead her new husband to be fiercely jealous.
She walks around the ranch, dressed inappropriately and seductively. and remember that she has only been married a couple of weeks. She admits to Lennie that she doesn't like her husband and regrets marrying him. She seems to be of limited intelligence, as she was taken in by other men's promises of film parts.
It is partly her desire to be petted and admired which leads her to allow Lennie to stroke her hair, which in turn leads to her death at Lennie's hands.
Note that throughout the book, she is only ever known as 'Curley's wife' which seems to indicate that the author viewed her as a possession of Curley's rather than a human being.
Notice that she is frequently associated with the colour red, a colour symbolising an impure woman, as well as one calculated to enrage a 'bull' such as Lennie.
Curley
Curley is the nastiest character in the book, and it is easy to point the finger at him and say he is 'the bad guy'.
He is resentful and angry towards everyone. Candy speculates that he dislikes big men because of his own diminutive size, and indeed it does seem that he has quite an inferiority complex, although he dislikes George almost as much as Lennie.
He is always looking for ways to assert what he sees as his masculinity, which explains his aggressive behaviour.
The most obvious feature of Curley's personality is that he is a coward, which Carlson quite rightly points out. He is willing to attack people he sees as weak, like meek-mannered Lennie, but when he meets resistance from somebody he thinks is dangerous like Slim, he backs down immediately and looks for someone else to vent his anger on.
Slim
Slim works as a jerkline skinner on the ranch where the story is set, driving a team of mules. This is a position which carries a lot of authority and power.
The men like and respect Slim, deferring to him in all matters. Only Slim is able to persuade Candy to allow his old dog and long-time companion to be killed.
Candy considers Slim to be a match for Curley in a fight, although Curley was once a boxer, and Slim has never been in a fight before. This illustrates the depth of respect the men feel for him.
Unlike many powerful men, Slim is also kind and compassionate. He explains to Candy that it was cruel to keep his dog alive, suffering, and tries to console him by offering him a newborn puppy. He also kindly gives a puppy to Lennie, although he modestly makes light of it, saying he would have had to kill it otherwise.
More evidence of his caring, thoughtful nature comes at the end of the book. When he and the other men find Lennie dead, killed by George, Slim is perceptive enough to realise that it must have been George who took Carlson's gun, and he comforts George.
Not only is Slim kind and friendly to his fellow labourers, we also see him exchange friendly words with Curley's wife. He seems to be the only one who realises that Curley's wife may not simply be a 'tart', she may merely be lonely. If he does think she is a prostitute, he doesn't hold it against her as the other men do. He doesn't attempt to judge her, when he doesn't know her well enough. So, to conclude, Slim's character is very kind and friendly. He is also very intelligent and perceptive, and he has a good sense of justice and fairness.
Candy
Candy is an old man with only one hand. He lost his right hand in an accident while working on the ranch. He works as a swamper, which means he sweeps and mops the floor.
He is quite friendly, although we see evidence that he is quite a gossip, from how he eagerly tells George and Lennie how Curley keeps Vaseline in his glove, and by how he eavesdrops on the two.
Candy is lonely, and feels isolated from the other men because of the large age difference between them. His best friend was his dog, and once that had been killed, he took up with George and Lennie so that he would have a sense of security and not be alone in his old age.
However, it is not only his fears that he will be fired soon which prompt him to join George and Lennie. It is also because he shares their dream of settling down and living independently.
He is usually quite realistic. He recognises that if he is fired his chances will not be very good if he is alone, and he knows that Lennie has little or no chance of survival after killing Curley's wife. Because he is so old, he has probably learnt to be realistic from past experience.
Loneliness
Loneliness affects many of the characters, and Steinbeck seems to show that it is a natural and inevitable result of the kind of life they are forced to lead.
The itinerant workers are caught in a trap of loneliness - they never stay in one place long enough to form permanent relationships. Even if such relationships existed, they would probably be destroyed by the demands of the itinerant life.
Let's examine the lonely situation of some of the characters, see how they try to deal with it, and the result.
Candy is lonely because he is old, and is different from the other hands. His only comfort is his old dog, which keeps him company and reminds him of days when he was young and whole.
He has no relatives, and once his dog is killed is totally alone. He eagerly clutches at the idea of buying a farm with George and Lennie, but of course this all comes to nothing.
Candy's disappointment is expressed in the bitter words he utters to the body of Curley's wife, whom he blames for spoiling his dream.
George is also caught in the trap of loneliness. Just as Candy has his dog for company, George has Lennie (who is often described in animal-like terms). Continuing the parallel, George too is left completely alone when Lennie is killed.
The dream farm is his idea, and he says 'We'd belong there ... no more runnin' around the country...'.
Another lonely character is Curley's wife. Newly married and in a strange place, she is forbidden by Curley to talk to anyone but him. To counter this, she constantly approaches the ranch hands on the excuse of looking for Curley. The only result is that the men regard her as a slut, and Curley becomes even more intensely jealous. Finally, her loneliness leads to her death as she makes the ' serious error of trying to overcome it by playing the tease with Lennie.
Curley himself is lonely. His new wife hates him as do all the ranch hands who despise him for his cowardice.
He has married in an attempt to overcome his loneliness, but has blindly chosen a wife totally inappropriate for the kind of life he leads.
His feelings are all channelled into aggressive behaviour which further isolates his wife and leads to the incident with Lennie where his hand is crushed.
Crooks is another who is isolated because he is different. He copes with it by keeping a distance between himself and the other hands. When he does allow himself to be drawn into the dream of working on George and Lennie's dream farm, he is immediately shut out by George's anger.
Violence
The novel has many examples of a kind of needless violence. For example, Candy relates how the boss gave them whisky and allowed a fight to take place in the bunkhouse.
Curley is the most obviously violent character, however, and whenever he appears there is a feeling of tension.
He is described as pugnacious when we first meet him, and causes George to remark
'...what the hell's he got on his shoulder.'
Candy explains that Curley often picks on big guys ( a sure sign of trouble for Lennie). We are prepared for Curley's later anger, which culminates at the end in his wish to
'... shoot him in the guts.'
Carlson is another character associated with violence. He is unconcerned about killing Candy's dog (and in fact callously cleans the gun in Candy's presence).
He goes to watch the fun when Curley thinks Slim may be with his wife, and later goads Curley more, threatening to
'... kick your head off.'
Later he is very keen to get his gun to join in the hunt for Lennie. The last words in the book belong to Carlson, and it is little surprise that they reveal his complete inability to understand George's feelings about the death of Lennie.
Compared to the other characters, Lennie reveals an unintentional violence. He does not even think to fight back when Curley attacks him, but when he does, it is with immense and uncontrollable force. He has so little control over his own strength that he accidentally kills his puppy, and then minutes later snuffs out the life of Curley's wife.
His actions on these occasions are compared to those of an animal, powerful but thoughtless. Ironically, Curley's wife is attracted to him because of the violence he had shown in crushing her husband's hand.
It is the threat of violence to be used against Lennie that causes George to take the final step of killing his friend.
Dreams
Dreams are one of the ways in which the characters combat the loneliness and hopelessness of their existence.
The most obvious example is the dream farm, a dream shared at first only by George and Lennie, but which later spreads to include Candy and Crooks.
Crooks reveals that it is the favourite dream of the itinerant ranch hands:
'Seems like ever' guy got land in his head.'
It is a powerful dream, however, and even the cynical Crooks falls under its spell for a short time.
To Lennie, the dream is an antidote to disappointment and loneliness, and he often asks George to recite the description of the farm to him.
Curley's wife is another who has dreams, her fantasies of a part in the movies and a life of luxury. Part of her dissatisfaction with her life is that it can never measure up to her dreams.
Significantly, none of the characters ever achieve their dreams.
Nature
Steinbeck shows the world of nature to be a beautiful and peaceful one, but threatened by the actions of men.
The beginning of the novel sets this pattern, as the creatures at the pool are disturbed by George and Lennie's approach.
The ranch and its buildings, being created by men, are in contrast with the natural world. Notice that the bunkhouse, for example, is quite bare and stark.
Even more unnatural is that Candy and Crooks are both deformed or unnatural in appearance.
Contrasted to these two characters is Lennie, who almost seems a part of the natural world as he is described in animal terms.
In fact, one of Lennie's dreams is to go and live by himself in a cave. Maybe this would be the only way in which the natural world of Lennie would not come into conflict with the world of men.
