What Events Led To Lennie's Death

In the novel, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, there are several instances that foreshadow the events that eventually led to Lennie’s death. Two instances are when Candy’s dog is shot in the back of the head, and when Lennie got into trouble, in Weed, the town in which Lennie and George worked in previously. This led the reader to speculate that Lennie was going to get in trouble at the ranch, and eventually get killed.
About a day after George and Lennie joined the ranch, Carlson, a thick-bodied man on the ranch, made comments about how Candy’s dog was old and suffering. He stated, “Look, Candy. This ol’ dog jus’ suffers hisself all the time. If you was to take him out and shoot him right in the back of the head-- right there, why he’d never know what hit him.” (Steinbeck, 45). Candy ended up giving in and Carlson shot the dog in the back of the head, killing him immediately. When George ended up killing Lennie, George did the exact same thing. To make sure that Lennie didn’t suffer, he shot Lennie directly in the back of the head. …show more content…
However, one of the key events was when Lennie got in trouble in Weed, the town in which Lennie and George worked previously. Lennie being himself, tried to touch a girl’s dress because he saw that it was soft. When the girl yelled, Lennie held on tighter because he didn’t know what to do and wouldn’t let go. When George heard the yelling, he ran back and “socked him over the head with a fence picket to make him let go.”(41) This previous scene was almost identical to the event that caused George to shoot Lennie. At the ranch, Lennie was alone with the boss’s daughter-in law and was invited by her to touch her hair. When she told him to let go, he held on tighter in fear, and when she yelled, he shook her, breaking her neck. The idea of Lennie getting in trouble was even foreshadowed by many events, the most notable being the event in