Of Mice and Men
Scene #10 · Chapter 6
George finds Lennie by the river where they camped in the beginning. Lennie expects George to yell at him, but George speaks gently and tells Lennie to look across the river and imagine their farm. As George recites the dream one final time, describing the rabbits and the alfalfa, he pulls Carlson's stolen Luger from his pocket. While Lennie smiles and says "Le's do it now," picturing the farm, George shoots him in the back of the head. The lynch mob arrives moments later, and George lets them believe Lennie had the gun.
George's mercy killing mirrors Candy's regret about his dog, as George ensures Lennie dies peacefully while hearing the dream rather than being lynched by Curley's mob. The return to the river creates a circular structure, but the dream that once offered hope now serves as a final comfort before death. George's act destroys his own dream as well, leaving him as alone and purposeless as the other ranch hands he once pitied.
He reached in his side pocket and brought out Carlson’s Luger; he snapped off the safety, and the hand and gun lay on the ground behind Lennie’s back.
Chapter 6 · Narrator
And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger.
Chapter 6 · Narrator
No, Lennie. I ain’t mad. I never been mad, an’ I ain’t now. That’s a thing I want ya to know.
Chapter 6 · George Milton
Look acrost the river, Lennie, an’ I’ll tell you so you can almost see it.
Chapter 6 · George Milton
An’ live on the fatta the lan’.
Chapter 6 · Lennie Small