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GCSE English Literature — Revision Notes
John Steinbeck's 1937 novella. Chapter summaries, character analysis, themes, 20 key quotations with analysis, historical context, writer's methods, and essay planning.
George Milton and Lennie Small walk along the Salinas River towards a ranch where they have new jobs. George is small, sharp-featured and quick; Lennie is enormous, shapeless and mentally disabled. George carries both work cards because Lennie loses things. They camp by the river for the night. George discovers Lennie has been secretly carrying a dead mouse in his pocket, stroking it for comfort. George reluctantly tells their shared dream: one day they will own a small farm where Lennie can tend rabbits. George reminds Lennie that if anything goes wrong at the new ranch, he must return to this spot and hide in the brush by the river. We learn they were run out of their last job in Weed after Lennie grabbed a woman's dress and would not let go.
George and Lennie arrive at the ranch and meet the bunk house inhabitants. The boss is suspicious about why George speaks for Lennie. They meet Candy, the ageing, one-handed swamper, and his old dog. Curley, the boss's aggressive son, immediately takes a dislike to Lennie because of his size. Curley's wife appears in the doorway, described as having 'full, rouged lips' and 'the eye'. George warns Lennie to stay away from both Curley and his wife. They also meet Slim, the skilled mule-driver whose authority is respected by everyone, and Carlson, a large, insensitive ranch hand.
Slim gives Lennie a puppy from his dog's litter. George confides in Slim about what happened in Weed. Carlson pressures Candy to let him shoot his old, suffering dog; Candy reluctantly agrees and immediately regrets not shooting the dog himself. George tells Lennie about the dream farm while Candy overhears. Candy offers his life savings ($350) to join them, making the dream suddenly achievable. Curley picks a fight with Lennie, punching him repeatedly. On George's command, Lennie grabs Curley's fist and crushes it. Slim forces Curley to say his hand was caught in a machine to avoid humiliation.
While most men visit a brothel in town, Lennie enters Crooks's room in the harness room of the barn. Crooks is the Black stable buck who is segregated from the other workers. Initially hostile, Crooks cruelly suggests George might not come back, reducing Lennie to distress. Candy joins them and they discuss the dream farm. For a moment, Crooks asks to join them. Curley's wife appears and, when challenged by Crooks, threatens him with lynching. Crooks withdraws his request to join the dream and retreats into isolation.
Lennie is alone in the barn. He has accidentally killed his puppy by stroking it too hard. Curley's wife finds him and, despite Lennie's attempts to avoid her, tells him about her failed dreams of being in the movies. She invites him to stroke her soft hair. When she panics and tries to pull away, Lennie holds on tighter and accidentally breaks her neck. He takes the dead puppy and runs to the brush by the river, as George told him to. Candy finds the body and fetches George. They both know the dream is dead. George takes Carlson's Luger pistol. Curley organises a lynch mob.
The novel returns to the clearing by the Salinas River where it began. Lennie waits in the brush. He hallucinates his Aunt Clara scolding him, then a giant rabbit telling him George will leave him. George arrives and, as the mob approaches, tells Lennie to look across the river while he describes the dream farm one final time. George shoots Lennie in the back of the head with Carlson's Luger. The men arrive. Only Slim understands what George has done and why. Slim leads George away, saying 'You hadda, George. I swear you hadda.' Carlson and Curley cannot understand why George is upset.