Chapter 5 Summary 

     This chapter starts out on a sunny Saturday with the men playing horseshoes outside. Lennie is sitting in the barn next to his dead puppy contemplating what to do next. He is petting the dead puppy and asking it why it had to die over and over.

• Curley's wife comes wandering in and starts talking to Lennie and asking him questions all to which Lennie replies that he isn't suppose to talk to her. Curley's wife ignores Lennie's comments and starts telling him about her childhood and her dreams to be an actress. Her parents forbid her to do this so she married Curley instead. However, Lennie is to preoccupied thinking about whether or not George will let him take care of the rabbits to listen to her.
• Curley's wife asks him why he likes rabbits so much and he replies that he likes to touch nice things. She tells him that she has nice hair and asks Lennie if he wants to feel how soft it is. Of course Lennie does, but when Curley's wife commands him to let go, he doesn't. She panics and starts yelling and screaming. Lennie is afraid of what George will say, so he covers her mouth and holds her to the ground. Curley's wife struggles, so Lennie shakes her to make her be quiet which breaks her neck. Lennie realizes that she is dead and tries to cover her half up with hay. He remembers that George told him that if he ever got into any trouble to hide in the brush until he came, so Lennie goes off to hide.
• Candy comes in the barn looking for Lennie and discovers Curley's dead wife. Candy ran out and got George to show him what had happened. They both instantly know that Lennie did it. They contemplate if they should let Lennie get away or go and tell the guys what happened. It is decided that they need to tell the guys, so George leaves so that it doesn't look like he was involved with anything.
• A few minutes later, all the men rush into the barn and see Curley's wife laying there dead and Curley immediately knew who had done it. Curley starts saying how he's going to go and shoot Lennie and all the guys go with him including George, who tried to talk them out of it but his attempts failed. They tell Curley that he should stay back with his wife but he wants to go so they decide that Candy will stay with her.