1. Of Mice and Men
Chapter 5

2. Key Events Lennie has killed the puppy He tries to hide it
He is upset because he thinks he will not get to tend the rabbits
He has some understanding of what he has done- “You wasn’t big enough….They tol’ me and tol’ me you wasn’t.”

3. Curley’s wife enters
She wants someone to talk to. She tells Lennie that she is “awful lonely”
“You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley…..How’d you like not to talk to anybody.”
Lennie is worried. He has been warned by George not to talk to her.
She discovers the dead puppy, but is not concerned about it. She does not listen to HOW it got killed. (If she had, she may have been more cautious around Lennie.)

4. Curley’s wife tells her story
She is upset that she is not allowed to talk to anybody
She tells Lennie “ I coulda made something of myself”
A show came to her home town, and one of the actors told her she could go with them, but her mother wouldn’t let her.
She met a man at the “Dance Palace” who said he was from Hollywood and he would put her in the movies- he would write to her

5. Curley’s wife- her story
She never got a letter. She thought her mother stole it.
She didn’t want to stay somewhere “where I couldn’t get nowhere or make something of myself, an’ where they stole your letters.”
To get away from her mother, she married Curley instead.
Think about why this is ironic. She wanted freedom to be someone- and look at what her life has become.
She admits that she does not like Curley.

6. Lennie and curley’s wife
As she talks, she moves closer to Lennie
Lennie is not listening- he is still thinking about the rabbits
He tells her he likes to pet soft things
She thinks that Lennie is “nuts”, but “ a kinda nice fella. Jus like a big baby.”( This is her mistake)
She lets Lennie stroke her hair
When she gets angry at him mussing up her hair, and tries to get away, Lennie hangs on.
She starts screaming, Lennie puts his hand over her mouth. He panics, shakes her, and breaks her neck.

7. Lennie’s reaction “I done a bad thing. I done another bad thing.”
He tries to cover up the body.
“I done a real bad thing…….George’ll be mad….hide in the brush till he comes”
He runs away , taking the dead puppy with him ( because he doesn’t want to be in even more trouble.)
Curley’s wife looks beautiful now she is dead. “ The meanness and the plannings and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face. She was very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young.”

8. foreshadowing
How was this final “bad thing” that Lennie did foreshadowed throughout the novel?
Pets mice too hard and kills them
The incident in Weed-girls dress
Crushes Curley’s hand
Kills the puppy
All of these show Lennie’s great strength, and how he reacts when he is scared- they lead up to the killing of Curley’s wife.

9. sympathy Do we feel sympathy for Lennie? Why? It was not his fault
Doesn’t know his own strength
He panicked- did not mean to kill her
He takes the dead puppy with him- thinks he will be in less trouble if he hides it
Do we feel sympathy for Curley’s wife? Why?
She just wanted someone to talk to- she was really lonely
She was young and foolish