Why does george agree to let

George berates him for taking the little creature away from its mother. As Lennie returns the puppy to the litter, Candy and Carlson appear. Candy replies that he has had the dog for too many years to kill it, but Carlson continues to pressure him. Eventually Slim joins in, suggesting that Candy would be putting a suffering animal out if its misery.

Slim offers him a puppy and urges him to let Carlson shoot the dog. Another farmhand, Whit, enters and shows Slim a letter written by a man they used to work with published in a pulp magazine. The short letter praises the magazine.

As the men marvel over it, Carlson offers to kill the dog quickly by shooting it in the back of the head. Reluctantly, Candy gives in. Carlson takes the dog outside, promising Slim that he will bury the corpse. After a few awkward moments of silence, the men hear a shot ring out, and Candy turns his face to the wall.

Carlson cleans his gun and avoids looking at Candy. Curley appears looking for his wife again. Full of jealousy and suspicion, he asks where Slim is. When he learns that Slim is in the barn, he storms off in that direction, followed by Whit and Carlson, who hope to see a fight. George warns his companion against the trouble that women cause, and then Lennie asks him to describe the farm that they hope to buy. As George talks, Candy listens and becomes excited by the idea of such a beautiful place.

He asks if the place really exists. George is guarded at first, but soon says that it does and that the owners are desperate to sell it. Since he is old and crippled, he worries that the ranch will let him go soon. The men agree that after a month of work at this ranch, they will have enough money saved to make a down payment on the house. George tells the other two not to tell anyone else about their plan.

Slim, Curley, Carlson, and Whit return. However, Crooks immediately realises how futile this hope is and Candy understands at the end of the book that it was never really possible. She tells Lennie that she married Curley after her plans of becoming a movie star fell through.

He says I could go with that show. But the guy says I coulda. Without Lennie, George cannot envision himself carrying on, and he realises that the dream was never really possible. This represents the hopelessness of men like them. George said softly, —I think I knowed from the very first. He usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would. Crooks was scornful. Hunderds of them. Carlson finally persuades Candy to let him shoot the dog.

He takes the dog outside and a shot is heard; Candy stays in the bunkhouse, lying on his bed and staring at the wall. Most of the men leave the bunkhouse, except George, Lennie and Candy.

George and Lennie discuss their dream of owning a farm, overheard by Candy, who wants to get involved. He offers to contribute his life savings, which would enable the men to buy a piece of land which George knows about.

Curley, Slim, Whit another ranch hand and Carlson re-enter the bunkhouse. Curley apologises to Slim for accusing him of being with his wife and the men mock him for his insecurity about her.