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Two migrant workers, George and Lennie, camp for the night in a river bottom. Lennie is a large, gentle mentally retarded man, devoted to George and dependant upon him for protection and guidance. Lennie loves to stroke soft, furry things--like mice and puppies--but he does not know his own strength, and often accidentally kills them. He and George share a dream of buying their own piece of land and farming it. The next day, they …

…Curley's wife comes in and consoles him, offering to let him feel her hair. He grabs too tight, and when she cries out, he tries to silence her and breaks her neck. As the other men gather a lynch party, he flees back to the river bottom, where he is joined by George, who tells him the story of their farm one last time, and then shoots him, mercifully, in the back of the head.