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- At the end of Of Mice and Men, George spares Lennie from Curley’s wrath by shooting Lennie in the back of the head after reciting their shared dream of owning a farm one final time.
www.sparknotes.com/lit/micemen/what-does-the-ending-mean/
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Why does George warn Lennie to keep away from Curley's wife?
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The men of Weed ran George and Lennie out of town, and the two escaped by hiding in an irrigation ditch until nightfall. This anecdote foreshadows the death of Curley’s wife, which happens as a result of a nearly identical misunderstanding.
Candy leaves, and George tells Lennie to stay away from Curley and not speak to him; however, George says, if Curley punches Lennie, Lennie is to "let him have it." Then George reminds Lennie of the place by the river where he is to go in case of trouble.
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In the same riverbed where the story began, it is a beautiful, serene late afternoon. A heron stands in a shaded green pool, eating water snakes that glide between its legs. Lennie comes stealing through the undergrowth and kneels by the water to drink. He is proud of himself for remembering to come here to wait for George, but soon has two unpleas...
Lennie asks him to tell the story of their farm, and George begins, talking about how most men drift along, without any companions, but he and Lennie have one another. The noises of men in the woods come closer, and George tells Lennie to take off his hat and look across the river while he describes their farm. He tells Lennie about the rabbits, an...
The sound of the shot brings the lynch party running to the clearing. Carlson questions George, who lets them believe that he wrestled the gun from Lennie and shot him with it. Only Slim understands what really happened: You hadda, George. I swear you hadda, he tells him. Slim leads George, who is numb with grief, away from the scene, while Carlson...
The final scene between George and Lennie is suffused with sadness, even though Lennie retains his blissful ignorance until the end. To reassure Lennie, George forces himself through their habitual interaction one last time. He claims that he is angry, then assures him that all is forgiven and recites the story of their farm. For George, this final...
Curley and Lennie have a conflicting relationship because Lennie gets off to a wrong start by refusing to talk to Curley. George said, "S'pose he don't want to talk?"...
Soon, though, Lennie retrieves the puppy, strokes it again, and reasons that perhaps George won’t care, since the puppy meant nothing to George. As he talks to himself, Curley’s wife enters and sits beside him. Lennie hastily hides the puppy and tells her that George ordered him not to speak to her.
Candy says they need to let Lennie get away because Curley will lynch him, but George realizes how hopeless escape would be. He tells Candy to give him a minute to go to the bunkhouse before telling the other men; then George will come along as though he had not already seen Curley's wife.
Lennie's reasoning is that the body of Curley's wife is bad enough; the body of the pup would compound the wrong done. This action — and the thought process that preceded it — reemphasizes Lennie's child-like understanding of the events that have transpired.
