Sections 4-6

 Section 4

p.85 "Lennie leaned toward..." p. 86 "...under their hand."

the project / dream will never be done.

1. Here, Lennie is the one who evokes the dream, coming back to it. His innocence echoes Crook's experience : Crooks "brutally" says the dream is but an illusion, that's it's all in the "head", not in the "hand." Once more, the text highlights the significance of the hand (Curley's glove full of vaseline, Curley's hand crushed by Lennie's paw, Crooks' pink palm, etc.).

2. Lennie keeps coming back to the dream, and speaks about the "Land", and the "promises" made by George. His vision features milk and cream and fat. It's quite reminiscent of the biblical Promised Land, the land of milk and honey. It can also make us think about the American dream and the conquest of the West, in a personal, almost mystical way. To this heavenly dream, Crooks opposes the blunt reality of the ranch and its inhabitants : a living "hell". Here comes his predidctions : Candy will die alone in the ranch, Lennie will soon be on the road, and George will end up drinking in a "whorehouse."

Section 5

p.102 "Curley's wife laughed at him..." p. 103 "...broken her neck."

1. There's a progression in the things that Lennie kills : a mouse, then a pup, then Curley's wife. Here, she had just confessed she had a dream of her own, that she didn't really love Curley, and that she wanted to get away. Just like our heroes, she has a dream in her head. Ironically, she's killed after admitting to this dream. Ironically again, she's considered like a pet : that's a key element in understanding her. All the other members of the ranch (bar Slim) sees her as a thing to be touched and felt and petted. And ironically enough, that's also the only scene where Curley and Curley's wife are together ; he doesn't even touch her or look at ther, he's suddenly animated by revenge.

2. There are multiple hints that this "accident" is going to happen. There's the progression in the animals Lennie kills. There's also all the predictions Lennie makes about Curley's wife and the ranch ; when he tells George this place is "mean," George doesn't listen. What's more, is what we discover throughout the novel about what took place before the novel starts, in Weeds. All this leads to Lennie killing Curley's wife in an inescapable, tragic predestination. 

Curley's wife's body is "flopping like a fish." On page 71, the text draws a crystal clear parallel : Curley's hand is smashed by Lennie, and his body is "flopping like a fish on the line." They both share a common destiny. 

Section 6

p. 120 "George shivered..." - to the end. 

1. Chain of events

a. nature, animals

b. Lennie arrives, has a vision with Aunt Clara and a huge rabbit.

c. George joins Lennie, Lennie asks George to tell the dream.

d. as he tells the dream, George kills Lennie in the back.

e. The men from the hunting party arrive.

f. Slim and George go away for a drink. 

1. This last section works a bit like an epilogue to a tragedy. All themes in the novel converge to this section in a culmination of death and sorrow. 

2. George throws the Luger in the pile of ashes. He revisits the previous sections of the novel, the campfire in section 1, the killing of the dog in section 3, and also the numerous moments where the "hand" was evoked, as he "looks at his hand" twice after killing Lennie.

3. that's not only the death of Lennie, but also the death of the dream. Lennie epitomizes the dream. With him dead, the novel has to end.

4. The novel works like a tragedy. But like in Oedipus Rex, a character is going to try and assert his own freedom in front of an inescapable destiny : indeed, Curley was the one who was supposed to kill Lennie. There's a parallel between the execution of the dog and Lennie's death (same gun, same motive, same killers), between Curley and his wife's accidents (both "flopping like [...] fish"). Curley explicitly states he wants to kill Lennie. But unlike Candy, George decides to kill Lennie himself, giving him a more humane death, lending meaning to it.