George and Lennie are shown round the ‘bunkhouse’ – ‘little’ ‘little’ ‘few’ ‘personal belongings’ are listed to show how small their world is.
Candy: ‘a tall, stoop-shouldered old man’, and on one arm, ‘no hand.’
Crooks is introduced by Candy as a “nigger” and a “nice fella” with a “crooked back where a horse kicked him.”
When the Boss Enters:
George about Lennie “a good worker” “strong as a bull” and “can do anything” “I ain’t saying he’s bright. He ain’t.” “He can put up a four hundred pound bale” (400lb = 28 stone or 181 kg)
Boss: “What stake you got in this guy?’ “I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy.”
George lies: “He’s my cousin””got kicked in the head by a horse when he was a kid.”
The boss is suspicious about why they left Weed. Lennie says the job was done. When he’s gone, he tells Lennie off for speaking (once – Lennie repeated “strong as a bull”)
Lennie asks: “I wasn’t kicked in the head with no horse, was I, George?” “You said I was your cousin.”
George “That was a lie.”
Candy’s dog
‘drag-footed’, ‘grey’, with ‘pale, blind old eyes’ ‘struggled lamely’ and ‘moth-eaten’
Candy: “a guy on a ranch don’t never listen nor he don’t ast no questions”
about his dog: “I had ‘im ever since he was a pup”
Curley enters: glanced ‘coldly’ at them, ‘hands closed into fists’, ‘stiffened’ ‘calculating and pugnacious’ (aggressive)
Lennie ‘squirmed’ ‘nervously’ ‘twisted with embarrassment’
Curley “By Christ, he’s gotta talk when he’s spoke to.”
Candy: says Curley is “pretty handy” (with his fists) “picking scraps” “scrappy” “Curley ain’t givin’ nobody a chance” “He just don’t give a damn”
“he’s worse lately” “got married”
“Curley says he’s keepin’ that hand soft for his wife”
“Wait’ll you see Curley’s wife”
George asks “Purty?”
Candy “she got the eye” – for “Slim” and “Carlson” “I think Curley’s married … a tart”
George says to Lennie to “keep away” from Curley
“if you get in trouble” (go back to the place in Chapter 1) “trouble” is repeated about four times
Enter Curley’s Wife
‘the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off’; ‘a girl’ ‘full, rouged lips’ ‘wide’ eyes ‘heavily made up’, fingernails ‘red’, ‘red mules’ ‘red ostrich feathers’. Her voice was ‘nasal, brittle’. ‘her body’ is repeated twice. Lennie is ‘fascinated’ – she smiles ‘archly’ (knowingly)
George “Jesus, what a tramp.”
Lennie “she’s purty”
G “Bet she’d clear out for twenty bucks” “Don’t you even take a look at that bitch” “poison” “I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her” “she’s a rattrap” he speaks ‘disgustedly’
Lennie: “This ain’t no good place. I wanna get outta here.” “It’s mean here”
Slim enters: ‘the prince of the ranch’ ‘gravity’ ‘profound’ ‘authority’ ‘ageless’ ‘understanding beyond thought’ ‘temple’
George says of Lennie “he ain’t bright” twice “good worker” and “nice”
Slim says: “Ain’t many guys travel around together” “Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other”
George admits it’s “a lot nicer”
Carlson enters: ‘powerful’ ‘big stomached’ asks about Slim’s pups. Slim says he “drowned for of ’em right off. She couldn’t feed that many” About Candy’s dog, Carlson says: “That dog of Candy’s is so God damn old he can’t hardly walk. Stinks like hell, too… why’n’t you getCandy to shoot his old dog and give him one of the pups?” “no teeth, damn near blind, can’t eat.”
George on Candy: “I hate his guts”