Summary:

Lennie Small and George Milton are two guys who travel together from ranch to ranch to find work. Their dream is to have their own ranch some day, and Lennie wants to have rabbits then. George is the smarter person, and try to keep Lennie out of trouble. Lennie thinks like a child, is stupid, is very big and strong and loves to pet soft things, especially animals. Sometimes this gives problems, because he is very big and strong, so when he pets animals, like rabbits or mice, they die because he breaks them. At their last address, in Weed, he wanted to feel this red dress of a girl. The girl didn't like this and she screamed and jelled. This was all very confusing to Lennie that he kept holding on to the dress. Because he was so scared, this was the only thing he could do. The girl tells it to the guys in Weed, and they starting to search for Lennie. Lennie and George hide and the guys can't find them.

George and Lennie go to another ranch. On their way to next ranch they pass by a river where they spend the night in the open. George says to Lennie that if he gets in any trouble he has to go to this place and hide in the bushes.

George also says that Lennie can't say a word when they get there, because then they'll know Lennie is stupid.

When they arrive at the ranch the next morning an old swamper says that the boss had expected them last night. The old guy tells them how nice the boss is, how he once bought whisky for the guys with Christmas.

When they get in the bunk they settle in, and then they go and see the boss.
When they are in the bunk again, Lennie gets a speech from George because Lennie accidentally spoke. Then there's a man standing at the door, and at first they think he's eaves dropping, but then they invite him and his dog in. Then the son of the boss, Curley, comes in and he doesn't like big people, because he himself is small. Curley is a lightweight-boxer. This means trouble, because Lennie is big (and helpless) and Curley hates big guys! Curley is also married, with a woman who flirts a lot, and as Lennie had a misunderstanding back in Weed, this means trouble too! So you can understand that Lennie and George are feeling very uncomfortable and that they are a bit scared. George tells Lennie to stay away from Curley and his wife. After this scene, when Curley has left, Curley's wife comes in and asks were Curley is. (She's always using that as an excuse to get out of the house and to flirt a bit with the guys.) Lennie, as stupid as he is, keeps staring at her, so when she's gone Lennie is given a speech again from George, who's very angry with Lennie.
Then Slim, the jerkline skinner, the prince of the ranch, comes in (Slim is pretty tall too, but not as tall as Lennie). He's a very kind man. George ans Slim talk, and Slim is very supprised that two men like George and Lennie are traveling together. Then a big-stomached man comes into the bunkhouse, he's Carlson. Carlson asks Slim about his dog, and Slim tells him that she just slang her puppies last night, nine puppies and five of them are left.

Take orders and work very hard. Candy, one of the ranchmen has an old dog that stinks enormously. Slim, the jerkline skinner, the prince of the ranch, has also a dog, which got 9 pups. So they want old Candy to shoot his dog and he can get than a pup from slim. Candy doesn't want to do that, but Carlson cans, also a ranch worker.

As Lennie likes to pet soft animals, but always kills them because he pets too hard, he arranges Lennie to get one of the puppies from Slim. But he may not pet it until a couple of weeks, because they're too little now. But Lennie can't wait and pets the dog. When the dog dies, Lennie is panic-stricken. George has told him that they are gonna get a little house with some land with cows and pigs and rabbits. George also told Lennie that he is going to tend those rabbits. If he isn't going to do wrong things. Now he killed the little pup, he thinks that George won't let him tend the rabbits.  
Curley - son of the boss, an unpleasant man, comes along to look for his wife and talks to the new comers. Lennie has been instructed by George to let George do all of the talking. Curley's son doesn't like that; he wants to be obeyed by the people at the farm exactly as he says. Curley's wife, who gives the eye to everybody, also comes along looking for her husband.

Candy, George and Lennie secretly agree to buy a quiet place to live that George knows to be for sale. There Lennie can tend the rabbits and the three men can live, as they want.

On Saturday night most of the man, including George go out in town. Lennie enters the room of Crooks, the one and only Negro who lives rather lonely on the range. They start a conversation and Lennie tells the secret: he will be able to tend the rabbits. Also Curley's wife comes along and makes the Negro clear that he has no rights; even receiving Lennie in his room is not allowed. On Sunday afternoon most men are outside, enjoying themselves. Lennie, despite the rule not to touch the puppies, plays with one of them. He of course accidentally kills the animal. As he sits there Curley's wife comes along and during their talking she lets Lennie feel her hair. Lennie does so, but to rough, Curley's wife gets frightened, Lennie panics and the result is that he breaks her neck. He goes to the place near the river where he has been said to hide in case of problems. After a while the men come in and discover the dead body. They understand that Lennie has killed the woman and start a search to revenge. George takes Carlson's Luger gun but tells nobody, so that the others think Lennie has stolen the gun before leaving the ranch. George finds Lennie near the river and while talking about the rabbits that they will have at their new house, he shoots him in the neck. The other men consider George as a courageous man who has captured an armed killer.


Theme(s):

The theme is love and friendship. George and Lennie have been friends for a long time. You can tell that because George shoots Lennie. You have to be real friend when you're able to do that for the other's own best.

Background:

The story is situated mainly at the ranch where George and Lennie work. I take it it's somewhere around the summertime, because they're able to play games outside, and there isn't anything said about rain or any other bad weather.

Characters:

George Milton: He's a very good man, taking responsibilities of Lennie. He takes good care of him. He's also a fine worker, and he's very wise.
Lennie Small: He's a dumb, childish person for his age. He's very fond of rabbits and other soft things. He's very strong and he sometimes hurt animals or people, but he doesn't mean it that way. He just doesn't know his own straight.
Slim: He's a big tall skinner. He's very nice to the new guys George and Lennie. He understands the situations of George and Lennie.
Curley White: He the son of the boss and is a boxer. He thinks he something special, but all the other guys think he's looser.
Carlson: A powerful big-stomached man. He's the one that had the guts to shoot the smelly dog of Old Candy.
Old Candy: He misses one hand. He welcomed the guys at the farm. He wanted to join their future plans.
Crooks: he's a so-called nigger. He has his own place in the barn. A place where no one can come.

Curley's wife: She hangs around the guys all the time, and they don't like that, because they don't want to get into trouble. Lennie killed her by accident. She feels very lonely around all those guys.
Aunt Clara: She's Lennie's aunt. George promised her when she died, that he would look after Lennie. She appears in Lennie's imagination.

Personal Opinion:

I find this story different from other stories, because what you see here is a strong friendship between two traveling men. You don't see that very often in books. It wasn't a very difficult book, thanks to the wordlist that was included.
I especially liked the part where George has to shoot Lennie. George is being very brave, and a real friend, by killing Lennie for Lennie's own good.
What I didn't like about this book were the long-winded fragments about the surroundings there. These fragments aren't very interesting to me, because that doesn't always matter in the story.