Of Mice and Men

644 Words2 Pages

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a riveting book which includes many intriguing scenes but one in particular is compelling. This is the scene where the readers witness the death of Curley’s wife. In the beginning of this scene, Lennie is sitting by himself in the barn mourning over the death of his puppy. He is trying to talk himself out of feeling guilty for killing his dog. Similar to all his pet mice, Lennie didn’t realize his own strength and killed it by accident. As he is talking to himself in the desolated barn, Curley’s wife sneaks in behind him. She kneels down next to him and attempts to start a normal conversation with him. As she is talking, she asks about the dead puppy and Lennie tells her his story. As Curley’s wife continues talking, she tells him about her dead acting career until Lennie begins talking about liking to pet soft things. Lennie’s hand ends up on her hair and when she jerks away afraid, his hand closed on her hair and hung on. As she began to yell, he covered up her mouth to muffle the noise. Once again Lennie, not knowing his own strength, managed to break Curley’s wife’s neck and eventually killed her. As Candy and George are coming into the barn, Lennie goes and hides knowing he did a bad deed. The scene ends with all the men leaving the barn to hunt down Lennie. This is a significant scene because of the culpability of multiple characters along with the significance of the scene in comparison to the rest of the novel. More than one character is responsible for a part in Curley’s wife’s death though it is ironic that the boy who committed the deed, Lennie, is the least responsible for her death. A main person responsible for Curley’s wife’s death was Curley’s wife herself. She puts Lennie in... ... middle of paper ... ...han a grown man. George begins to see that Lennie is really dangerous and cannot stay in this world without harming more people. With this in mind, George realizes that their fantasy dream is now over as Lennie was the heart and soul of the entire operation. George realizing this opens the door for the rest of the novel. This event also brings out a new side of Curly. This new Curly has a thirst for vengeance and is ready to get revenge on Lenny. Ironically, after her death, Curley’s wife’s life now has a meaning although Curley never mourns over his wife’s death. This plan for revenge also opens new doors for the novel to continue onwards. Lennie was this beacon of hope for the rest of the men living on that ranch and after this event, that small piece of hope is lost. The significance of this scene is important as it keeps the novel going towards the final scene.

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