Of Mice And Men - Wikipedia

During the Great Depression in California, two migrant field workers—George Milton, an intelligent but uneducated man, and Lennie Small, a bulky, strong but mentally disabled man—are on their way from Soledad to another part of the state. They share a dream of settling down on their own piece of land. Lennie's part of the dream is merely to care for and pet rabbits. He loves touching soft animals, but he always pets them so hard that he accidentally kills them. George and Lennie fled from Weed after Lennie grabbed a young woman's skirt because he thought it was pretty. He would not let go, because he holds on tighter when stressed. This incident led to an accusation of rape, with a mob forming to find and lynch Lennie. Throughout the introduction of the novel, it becomes clear that Lennie relies on George because he is unable to function independently.

The pair are hired at a farm, where they are confronted by Curley, the short and aggressive son of the owner. Curley dislikes larger men and he targets Lennie, who is instantly attracted to Curley's flirtatious and provocative wife. In contrast, the pair meets Candy, an elderly ranch handyman with one hand and a loyal dog, and Slim, an intelligent and gentle jerkline-skinner whose dog has recently had a litter of puppies. Slim gives puppies to Lennie and to Candy, whose loyal, accomplished sheep dog was put down by fellow ranch-hand Carlson.

In spite of problems, their dream leaps towards reality when Candy offers to pitch in $350 toward the purchase of a farm, in return for permission to live with them. They will be able to buy a farm at the end of the month. The trio are ecstatic, but their joy is overshadowed when Curley attacks Lennie, who defends himself by easily crushing Curley's fist while urged on by George.

Nevertheless, George feels more relaxed. He even leaves Lennie behind on the ranch while he goes into town with the other hands. Lennie wanders into the stable, and chats with Crooks, the bitter, yet educated stable hand, who is isolated from the other workers because he is black. Candy finds them and they discuss their plans for the farm with Crooks, who cannot resist asking if he can hoe a garden patch on the farm, even though he scorns the possibility of the dream coming true. Curley's wife makes another appearance and flirts with the men, especially Lennie. However, she shows her spiteful side when she belittles them and threatens to have Crooks lynched. They hear the ranch hands returning, and she leaves.

The next day, Lennie accidentally kills his puppy while stroking it. Curley's wife enters the barn and tries to speak to him, admitting that she is lonely. Her dreams of becoming a movie star have been crushed. She finds out about Lennie's love of soft things and offers to let him stroke her hair, but when she feels his strength, she panics and begins to scream. Lennie becomes frightened and unintentionally breaks her neck. He runs away. When the other ranch hands find the corpse, they form a lynch mob intent on killing him, sending for the police before beginning the search. George quickly realizes that their dream is at an end and hurries to find Lennie, hoping he will be at the meeting place they designated in case he got into trouble.

George finds Lennie at the meeting spot, and the two sit together while George retells the beloved story of the dream, although he now knows it will never happen. George hears the lynch mob coming and shoots Lennie, giving him a more merciful death than the one he would receive at the hands of the mob. Curley, Slim, and Carlson arrive seconds later. Only Slim understands what has happened. He leads George away, trying to console him. Curley and Carlson look on, neither understanding why Slim and George are feeling the way they are.