The chapter begins with the men outside playing and Lennie sitting alone inside the . He is stroking his dead . He is angry at the puppy, yelling at it for him. Lennie is worred that George will not let him tend the rabbits. He buries it in the , but later he picks it up and strokes it again. Then he throws it out of frustration.

Curley's comes in and asks Lennie about the animal. Lennie tells her that George does not want him to her. But she goes on talking to him. She tells him about her life before Curley and about how she could have been an .

Lennie tells Curley’s wife that he likes to pet things. She tells him to feel her . When he strokes her hair, she gets angry that he is messing it up. Lennie becomes and holds on more tightly as he had done to the girl’s in Weed. Curley’s wife starts to yell, and Lennie covers her mouth and tells her not to get him in . She gets scared and resists even more, which causes Lennie to accidentally her.

He realizes that she is dead, so he picks up the dead pup and leaves to hide in the . comes into the barn to talk to Lennie and finds Curley’s wife. He goes out and gets George, who asks him to give him a couple of minutes so the other men don’t think he was involved. George goes to the .

Once sees his dead wife, he says he will shoot Lennie in the guts. Carlson goes to get his Luger, but on his return, he says that Lennie must have it. George tells and the others that Lennie probably went south. George realizes that his dream is over. And he realizes that he must reach Lennie first.

Before George finds Lennie, we see talking to an imaginary Aunt . She yells at Lennie for always getting George into trouble. She disappears and then a giant yells at Lennie. George finds Lennie and tells him about owning the ranch. As Lennie is looking across the water and listening to the story, pulls out Carlson’s Luger and shoots Lennie in the back of the .