Of
Mice and Men
He pawed up the hay until it partly covered
her. Lennie was desperate about what he had done because now he
would not be able to tend to the rabbits.
“George is gonna be mad . . . what have I done . . why?
why?” Lennie shouted inconsolably while the others were outside
chatting, until someone opened the door. Lennie covered up the body
until it was completely covered with hay. It was Candy who had
come to see his new puppy. Then he suddenly saw Lennie who was crying.
Candy’s face was filled with fear and disappointment and he knew
that something must have gone wrong, something serious.
Candy asked, “Lennie, what’s wrong?”
Lennie fearfully raised his head and said, “I killed her.”
“Who?” Candy asked.
“Curley’s wife”, Lennie repeated.
“George won’t let me tend the rabbits, not anymore. I
have to go so he can get his money and I won’t bother him by
making any trouble.”
Lennie grabbed his hat and ran down the hill.
“Lennie!” Candy shouted, but by the time his voice rang
out, Lennie was gone. Candy immediately called the guys outside and
they all stomped into the barn to see what was going on.
“What is going on? Who’s under the hay? Why is old Candy so desperate?” The men called out.
Curley came in with his bandaged hand which had been, “caught in
a machine”. “Where is my wife, where is my woman?” he
demanded.
Candy slowly and cautiously pointed to the hay.
“Dig out the hay,” said Slim who had come in when he heard
all the shouting. When the body was revealed it did not take long
for him to realize that her neck was broken. “That big guy did
it. I know. He got my hand caught in a machine and now, and
now got my wife’s neck caught in a machine too! No,
I’m going to kill that big dummy myself. Where is that friend of
his, George?” Curly asked furiously.
There was noise in the barn as people went out to get their guns.
George finally came out. He was sad and he knew that either Lennie or
he would be killed that night. He immediately ran towards the place
where he told Lennie to hide and there, he saw him. He was
looking at the trees behind a huge rock.
“Lennie!” he called. Then he whispered again, “Lennie”.
There in the distance he could see Lennie’s head peeking out.
“Lennie, what have you done, Curley’s so mad and we both
knew something would happen with that lady. I warned you not to get
close!”
“I know George but, but I . . . I couldn’t help touching
her hair . . . her soft black hair,” said Lennie fearfully.
Next to the river they could not hear any voices, only the rustling of
drifting leaves on the round and the trees swaying in the gently
blowing breeze. Suddenly in the distance they could hear the
sound of dogs barking, horses stomping and guns shooting in the air.
They could feel the meanness and harshness coming towards them. Lennie
felt scared and agitated. He turned to George and asked,
“What do we do now George? I mean I . . I could go up in the
mountains so you could get your fifty bucks and have no trouble.”
George suddenly heard footsteps steps and a horse stomping on the
crackling earth. The others had a plan. George and Lennie
didn’t.
A mass of workers were there by now waiting for the action to
begin. Now the words between Carlson, Curley, George and Lennie
started flying. Carlson began shouting,
“I knew from the moment you started working in our stables that
you would be trouble, but we accept almost everyone and your big
stupid friend, he did most of the work”. Then Curley
further added,
“And now what do you think I should do without my beloved wife,
and with a hand ‘caught in a machine’, when everyone knows
that the machine is you”.
He pointed while he said these words but George interfered because he could see that Lennie was in difficulty.
“Lennie doesn’t know what he does, that’s why he travels with me…tha’ . .”,
Curley interrupted. “Oh shut up you, let the big guy talk for once”.
Lennie was scared and he tried to talk just like George but the only
words that came out were, “She got her neck caught in a
machine, just like your hand!”
Now Curley’s face became really red. He was very angry,
frustrated and mad as he shouted out, “Lennie you
don’t know how it might be to be alone, you’ve got George
who takes care of you, now let’s face reality. You killed
my wife and the only thing I think is fair is to kill you or your
friend. Which will be the first?”
Slim tried to calm the situation, while Candy came on to the
scene. This time he was determined however, to do something
because he had a gun.
The situation seemed like it had got better,
but it only appeared so. Each of the men had a gun now except for
the two men who were going to be lynched.
“That’s it! George move, Lennie stay still so I’ll hit the heart”.
Curley slowly pointed the gun at Lennie. George thought only of
one solution. In the instant, he ran and they heard the
“BOOM” of the gun. George had been hit.
He was bleeding where the bullet had hit his stomach. Lennie started to
cry slowly as he lunged forward to attack Curley when someone got
Lennie’s arm. George said,
“If you live, follow your instinct . . . don’t listen to
others . . . take Slim . . . he’ll take care of
you.” George almost didn’t finish the sentence when his
eyes closed and Lennie imagined God opening heaven’s doors.
There was silence again. Curley stood motionless with his arm raised,
the gun still in his hand. Just like the others, he
couldn’t believe that he had killed an innocent man. He
started to walk away but Lennie’s face was red and his eyes were
shiny as he let out the words,
“Oh you . . . you killed my only friend, my leader, my mentor . . . you killed my hero!”
Curley started laughing, “Ha ha ha, I killed George, now you can
have your own life or maybe you will begin to realize how difficult it
is when a big dummy like you kills a very important person in
someone’s life.” Slim avoided getting close because
he knew that Curley still had one shot left in the barrel of his gun,
so he whispered, “Curley don’t do it”.
“Shut up . . . the only thing you think about are your puppies .
. Let me do what I say for once.” Then he drew his
attention towards Lennie who lay sobbing beside George’s
corpse. The workers began to whisper and made their comments, but
Curley didn’t care. He wanted to do what made him feel
better, what he thought was right. But something stopped
him. Something stopped him from pulling the trigger. Something he
felt inside. He had already made Lennie suffer enough.
Curley turned away, hopped on this horse and rode away.
The silence fell, heavy in the air. Slim broke the silente
as he called out for the guys to go back to the stables. Now the
action was over. He went towards Lennie who lay on the dirty,
damp round and said,
“Lennie come back with me, I’ll take care of you,
don’t worry”. Lennie was determined to do
something. He did not think about what George had said and about
what Slim was telling him. He could only think of the
present. He took Slim’s huge gun, and said,
“I’m going to make use of this…o, on
me”. He threatened Slim and the others, and then he pulled
the trigger and another body was on its way to heaven.
Candy started crying and realized that now it would be impossibile for
his dream come true without these two men. Thoughts began
flashing in his mind, “They were going to have the little place
with me. Who is going to tend the rabbits? Who is going to take care of
the money I was saving? Where am I going to end my life?
Not in a bunk house, nor in the stables no . . . I have to die in
a little place where my puppy could live and play in the green grass .
. . I shall die now in the open nature next to my dear friends.”
In just a few hours, God up in the beloved sky had received three
bodies to take care of. Three men lay on the round, dead.
Slim slowly felt guilt creeping into him. He had not stopped
other deaths nor had he done enough to stop at least two of them. The
air felt dry and the clouds were very grey. It was as if
Slim’s feelings affected the nature around him. Carlson
looked puzzled as he watched him and said,
“Whatta hell were you thinking about? Save everyone you knew?
“No” said Slim, “If only I had tried…”.
Daphne 8F
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