Of Mice and Men

It is now Sunday afternoon, and the men play horseshoes outside the bunkhouse. Lennie is alone in the barn, looking “at a little dead puppy that lay in front of him” (95). He makes a plan to bury the puppy in hay, and then to tell George that he found the puppy dead, but he remembers that “George always knows.” Lennie gets angry at the puppy for dying because he is worried that now he won’t get to tend rabbits at the farm, rocking “himself back and forth in his sorrow” (96). Curley’s wife discovers Lennie in this state. She tries to draw Lennie into conversation. He resists stubbornly, but she notices the dead puppy and asks him about it. Lennie admits to her the truth: “[H]e 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” (98). Curley’s wife responds to Lennie kindly, which breaks down his determination to follow George’s instructions and avoid her. She talks openly with Lennie about her hopes of becoming an actress and her dreams of the life she might have had. Her dashed hopes contribute directly to her frustration with her life on the ranch.