Of Mice and Men
Scene #8 · Chapter 5
Curley's wife invites Lennie to feel her soft hair, but when he strokes too hard and she cries out in fear, he panics and holds on tighter to keep her quiet. She struggles and screams, and Lennie shakes her violently in his panic, pleading for her to stop so he won't get in trouble. Her body goes limp as her neck breaks, and Lennie realizes she is dead. He covers her partially with hay and flees to the hiding place by the river that George told him about in the beginning.
The killing fulfills the foreshadowing established through the dead mouse, the puppy, and Curley's crushed hand, showing that Lennie's strength combined with his panic makes tragedy inevitable. His immediate thought to hide at the river shows he remembers George's instructions but cannot grasp the magnitude of what he's done. The accidental nature of the murder emphasizes that Lennie's innocence cannot prevent the destruction he causes.
And she continued to struggle, and her eyes were wild with terror. He shook her then, and he was angry with her. "Don’t you go yellin’," he said, and he shook her; and her body flopped like a fish. And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck.
Chapter 5 · Narrator
"... Here—feel right here." She took Lennie's hand and put it on her head. "Feel right aroun' there an' see how soft it is."
Chapter 5 · Curley's Wife
"Look out, now, you’ll muss it." And then she cried angrily, "You stop it now, you’ll mess it all up." She jerked her head sideways, and Lennie’s fingers closed on her hair and hung on.
Chapter 5 · Curley's Wife
"Please don’t," he begged. "Oh! Please don’t do that. George’ll be mad."
Chapter 5 · Lennie Small
I done a bad thing. I done another bad thing.
Chapter 5 · Lennie Small