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Lennie Small In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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Man found dead shortly after killing woman
A woman was found in the stables of her husband’s ranch a few miles south of Soledad lying half covered by hay, her neck broken. According to witnesses, it was immediately assumed that one Lennie Small was the culprit, due to his size and tendency to violent outbursts. Because of this assumption the men of the ranch, following the boss and husband of the womans orders, grabbed weapons and went out looking for Lennie Small. Lennie Small was killed soon after this by George Milton, who shot him in the back of the head at the banks of a river.
Lennie Small is described as “a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, [and] with wide sloping shoulders.” (Steinbeck, 2) According to the other ranch …show more content…

Dumb bastard like he is, he wants to touch ever’thing he likes. Just wants to feel it. So he reaches out to feel this red dress an’ the girl lets out a squawk, and that gets Lennie all mixed up, and he holds on ‘cause that’s the only thing he can think to do. Well, this girl squawks and squawks. I was just a little bit off, and I heard all the yellin’, so I comes running, an’ by that time Lennie’s so scared all he can think to do is jus’ hold on. I socked him over the head with a fence picket to make him let go. He was so scared he couldn’t let go of that dress. And he’s so god damn strong you know.” (Steinbeck, 41)
Although no one saw Lennie kill the woman, it is assumed something along these lines occurred. This is voiced by slim, saying “maybe [it was] like that time in weed [George] was telling about.” (Steinbeck, …show more content…

The woman found is assumed by those who knew both her and Lennie to have brought this upon herself. She is described by them as being provocative and flirtatious. Many spoken to believe she lured Lennie to herself, leading to her death. Her intentions in this assumed luring are thought to have been sexual, or at the very least wrong.
A witness tells us he heard the farm hand Candy talking upon finding the body, saying “’you god damn tramp,’ he said viciously. ‘you done it di’n’t you? I s’pose you’re glad. Ever’body knowed you’d mess things up. You wasn’t no good. You aint no good now, you lousy tart’”
When asked about this, Candy confessed to saying these things, and that he believed she had ruined his chance of getting land with Lennie and George, by causing Lennie trouble.
Those who know George, and who knew Lennie, assume George shot Lennie so that no one else would kill him, and to give him a friendly moment before his death. This is not known for sure, because George refused to comment on

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