Of Mice and Men Summary
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The novel, which takes place during the Great Depression, begins beside the Salinas River near Soledad, California, where two migrant workers, Lennie Small and George Milton, are walking on their way to a nearby ranch. They have recently escaped from a farm near Weed where Lennie, a mentally deficient yet gentle man, was wrongly accused of rape when he touched a woman to feel her soft dress.
As they walk along, George scolds Lennie for playing with a dead mouse and warns him not to speak when they arrive at their new place of employment. When Lennie complains about not having ketchup for the beans they eat for dinner, George becomes angry, telling Lennie that he would be better off if he didn't have to take care of him. After they make up, George repeats to Lennie the details of their dream - that he and Lennie will raise enough money to buy a patch of land, where they will have a small farm with a vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch. The rabbit hutch is the only detail of the plan that Lennie consistently remembers. George tells Lennie that, if he gets into trouble as he did in Weed, he should return to the brush near the river and wait for George to find him.
When George and Lennie reach the bunkhouse at the farm where they will work, an old man named Candy shows them their beds and tells them that the boss was angry that they didn't show up the night before. Soon, the Boss questions George and Lennie. He discovers Lennie's mental impairment and cannot understand why George would travel with him until George lies and says that Lennie is his cousin. After the boss leaves, his son, Curley, enters the bunkhouse. Curley is a short man who hates larger men out of jealousy and insecurity; he has a new wife whom everyone suspects is unfaithful. His wife visits the bunkhouse later that night searching for Curley and flirts with the other men. Later, Curley returns looking for his wife and attempts to start a fight with George.