Lennie's Guilt

Lennie's Guilt is the internalized moral anguish that surfaces in Lennie Small's mind after he has committed a catastrophic act, manifesting as hallucinatory figures—first Aunt Clara, then a giant rabbit—that accuse him of failing George and of being unfit for the dream of tending rabbits. This guilt drives the final scene at the Salinas River pool, where Lennie's desperate need for reassurance and his confession of having "done another bad thing" set the stage for George Milton's agonizing decision to shoot him.

Hallucinatory Manifestations of Guilt

After arriving at the pool, Lennie sits with his knees embraced and his chin on his knees, and from out of his head there comes a little fat old woman—Aunt Clara. She wears thick bull's-eye glasses and a huge gingham apron with pockets, starched and clean, and she stands before him with her hands on her hips, frowning disapprovingly. When she speaks, it is in Lennie's own voice. She reminds him that she told him again and again to "Min' George because he's such a nice fella an' good to you," but that he never takes care and does bad things. Lennie answers miserably that he tried and tried but couldn't help it. Aunt Clara continues, still in Lennie's voice, cataloging George's sacrifices: when George got a piece of pie, Lennie always got half or more than half, and if there was any ketchup, George gave it all to him. She says that all the time George could have had a good time if it weren't for Lennie—he could have taken his pay and raised hell in a whorehouse, or sat in a pool room playing snooker—but instead he has to take care of Lennie. Lennie moans with grief and says he will go off into the hills and find a cave so he won't be any more trouble to George, but Aunt Clara sharply replies that he is always saying that and knows damn well he will never do it; he will just stick around and stew the Jesus out of George all the time. Lennie says he might as well go away because George won't let him tend rabbits now.

Aunt Clara vanishes, and from out of Lennie's head there comes a gigantic rabbit. It sits on its haunches, waggles its ears, crinkles its nose, and speaks in Lennie's voice too. The rabbit scoffs at the idea of tending rabbits, calling Lennie a crazy bastard who is not fit to lick the boots of any rabbit, who would forget them and let them go hungry. Lennie shouts that he would not forget, but the rabbit insists that George has done everything he could to jack Lennie out of the sewer but it does no good, and that George will beat hell out of him with a stick and then go away and leave him. Lennie retorts belligerently that George has never raised his hand to him with a stick, that George is nice to him and won't be mean. The rabbit repeats softly over and over, "He gonna leave you, ya crazy bastard. He gonna leave ya all alone." Lennie puts his hands over his ears and cries out, "Oh! George—George—George!"

Confession and the Need for Reassurance

When George comes out of the brush, Lennie immediately asks if George is going to leave him, and George says no. Lennie then confesses, "I done another bad thing." George says it doesn't make any difference and falls silent. Lennie asks if George isn't going to give him hell, as he always did before, and begins to recite the familiar speech himself: "If I di'n't have you I'd take my fifty bucks—" George interrupts, marveling that Lennie can't remember anything that happens but remembers every word he says. George then woodenly recites the speech without emphasis: "If I was alone I could live so easy. I could get a job an' not have no mess." He stops, and Lennie eagerly prompts him to continue, but George stops again. Lennie asks if George isn't going to give him any more hell, and George says no. Lennie offers to go away and find a cave, but George says, "No. I want you to stay with me here." Lennie then craftily asks George to tell him about the other guys and about them. George begins the familiar story: "Guys like us got no fambly. They make a little stake an' then they blow it in. They ain't got nobody in the worl' that gives a hoot in hell about 'em—" Lennie cries happily, "But not us," and together they finish the refrain: "Because I got you an'—" "An' I got you. We got each other, that's what, that gives a hoot in hell about us."

The Dream Recitation and the Final Act

As the shouts of men come closer, George tells Lennie to take off his hat because the air feels fine. Lennie asks him to tell how it's going to be. George, listening to the distant sounds, becomes business-like and tells Lennie to look across the river so he can almost see it. He begins to describe the little place: they will have a cow, maybe a pig and chickens, and down the flat a little piece of alfalfa. Lennie shouts, "For the rabbits," and George repeats it. Lennie says, "And I get to tend the rabbits," and George confirms it. Lennie giggles with happiness and says, "An' live on the fatta the lan'." George says yes. While Lennie looks across the river, George reaches into his side pocket and brings out Carlson's Luger, snaps off the safety, and lays the hand and gun on the ground behind Lennie's back. He looks at the back of Lennie's head, at the place where the spine and skull are joined. A man's voice calls from up the river, and another answers. Lennie urges George to go on. George raises the gun, his hand shakes, and he drops it to the ground again. Lennie continues to ask about the place. George resumes the description, and Lennie asks when they will do it. George says, "Gonna do it soon." Lennie says, "Me an' you." George replies, "You … an' me. Ever'body gonna be nice to you. Ain't gonna be no more trouble. Nobody gonna hurt nobody nor steal from 'em." Lennie says he thought George was mad at him, and George says, "No, Lennie. I ain't mad. I never been mad, an' I ain't now. That's a thing I want ya to know." The voices come close now. George raises the gun and listens. Lennie begs, "Le's do it now. Le's get that place now." George says, "Sure, right now. I gotta. We gotta." He raises the gun, steadies it, brings the muzzle close to the back of Lennie's head, and pulls the trigger. The crash of the shot rolls up the hills and rolls down again. Lennie jars and then settles slowly forward to the sand, lying without quivering.

Aftermath and the Narrative of Guilt

George shivers and looks at the gun, then throws it from him back up on the bank near the pile of old ashes. The brush fills with cries and running feet. Slim's voice shouts for George. Curley arrives ahead of the group, sees Lennie lying on the sand, and says, "Got him, by God." He looks down at Lennie and then back at George, saying softly, "Right in the back of the head." Slim comes directly to George, sits down beside him very close, and says, "Never you mind. A guy got to sometimes." Carlson asks how George did it, and George says tiredly, "I just done it." Carlson asks if Lennie had his gun, and George says yes. Carlson asks if George got it away from him and killed him, and George says, "Yeah. Tha's how," his voice almost a whisper, looking steadily at his right hand that had held the gun. Slim twitches George's elbow and says, "Come on, George. Me an' you'll go in an' get a drink." George lets himself be helped to his feet and says, "Yeah, a drink." Slim says, "You hadda, George. I swear you hadda. Come on with me," and leads George into the entrance of the trail and up toward the highway. Curley and Carlson look after them, and Carlson says, "Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin' them two guys?"