Of Mice and Men Short Summary

It is evening, and two men are going to a ranch. They stop near the Salinas River. George is on the lead. Lennie follows him.  Later that evening, they converse over their dreams to own pieces of land. The following day, they both go to the ranch to begin work. They are introduced those on the ranch and offered two beds. They also meet the boss with his son Curley. Curley is said to be rather rude. They get to know Curley’s wife as well. George advises Lennie that he should behave well around Curley and the wife. The suggested meeting point should be by the pool in case anything goes wrong for any of them.

George and Lennie are allocated to work together with Slim, who. George notices that Slim can be an understanding of confidant. They immediately become friends. The wrong accusation from Slim talking with his wife makes Slim angry. Slim even rejects Curley’s apology that was offered in the presence of everyone. Due to frustration on Curley picks a fight with Lennie. Prompted by George, Lonnie hurts Curley’s hand. Curley agrees not to tell anyone of what happened to the hand. This is to preserve his self-respect.

As they work on the ranch, the dream of owning their piece of land does not leave George and Lennie. Old Candy joins them in the plan. One evening, Lennie is searching for his puppy which had entered Crook’s room. Crooks lives in his room separated from the other works since he is the only black man working there. Candy, while searching for Lennie, enters the room. They announce to Crooks they have a dream of owning a ranch one day. Crooks dismisses the idea as something that can never. They are all interrupted by Curley’s wife who enters the room. Crooks does not like her presence in the room. Moreover, she threatens to level a rape accusation against Crooks.

Later, Lennie finds his dog dead. In the process of grieving in the barn, he is joined by Curley’s. They have a conversation in which she requests Lennie to gently stroke her hair. When she feels the strong hands from Lennie, she begins to panic. Lennie accidentally kills her as he tries to prevent her from making noise. Knowing the gravity of the deed, Lennie escapes from the ranch. When people learn about death, they can already guess who is responsible. Curley sets out to revenge. George thinks ahead of them and gets Lennie before the others do. George mercifully kills Lennie to spare him from the brutality he would have faced. The gunshots attract the searchers. They praise George for killing Lennie. Only Slim understands George’s real intention.