The death of Curley's wife and George's shooting of Lennie are both foreshadowed in earlier chapters of Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men. That Lennie was capable of accidentally killing Curley's wife is revealed in two ways. First, the reader knows that Lennie is often deadly to small animals. In the beginning of the book, he is carrying a dead mouse which George suspects he killed by petting too much. George knows that Lennie usually tends to kill the mice he picks up or which were given to him by his Aunt Clara. In chapter one, George says, "You always killed ‘em.” Lennie simply doesn't realize his own strength. Later in the novel he will also kill a puppy by playing with it in too rough a manner.
The second way that Curley's wife's death is foreshadowed is in the story of the girl in the red dress in Weed. Lennie saw the girl and was fascinated by her dress, which he grabbed. When the girl started to scream, Lennie panicked and simply held on, causing even more trouble. George tells Slim,
“Well, he seen this girl in a red dress. 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 jus’ 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 scairt he couldn’t let go of that dress. And he’s so God damn strong, you know.”
Later in the novel, Lennie will find himself in almost the same position while he is stroking Curley's wife's hair. Like the girl in the red dress, Curley's wife becomes uncomfortable with his touch and begins screaming. As in Weed, Lennie is confused and simply holds on to the girl, but, as with the mice and puppy, Lennie doesn't know how strong he is and breaks her neck.
George's shooting of Lennie in the final chapter is foreshadowed earlier in the book by the incident with Candy's dog. In chapter three, Carlson suggests that the dog is old and should be put out of its misery. Candy doesn't have the heart to kill his best friend, who has been with him for many years. At the suggestion of Slim, he finally allows Carlson to take the dog and shoot it. Later, he confesses to George, "I shouldn’t ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog.” This passage seems to be key to George's later decision to shoot Lennie. George knows that Lennie would never understand the punishment which he would receive for committing murder. Instead of allowing Curley or one of the other men to shoot Lennie, or letting him fall into the hands of the sheriff, George does the deed himself. He even uses the same gun that Carlson used to kill the dog.
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