Chapter 3 Notes

Connections

When George was talking to Slim about Lennie, the way the characters described Lennie reminded me of a friend I had. My friends little brother used to hit him and throw things at him, but my friend never touched him. My friend reminded me of Lennie because George said that he beat Lennie up, but Lennie would not do anything. My friend is just like Lennie because he never wanted to start fights. (Steinbeck 40)

When Carlson and Candy are talking about Candy's dog, it reminded me of my the decision my family had to make about my dog. My dog, Jake, was very sick, and my family had to decide to put him down because he was so ill. Candy's decision to keep his dog or not reminded me of the decision my family had to make. (Steinbeck 45)

Predictions

After reading about Candy's conversation in the bunkhouse, I predict that Candy will end up shooting his dog. Everyone keeps telling him that his dog is so old, and shooting him would be good for the dog because it would take him out of his pain. I believe that Candy will listen to his roommates and take away his dogs pain.  (Steinbeck 45)

I predict that Curley's wife is going to cheat on Curley with George. There is a lot of foreshadowing going on about Curley's wife. It is obvious that she is trouble. Whit told George that she always has her eyes on people and George does not like Curley because he hates his guts. This foreshadowing leads me to predict that Curley's wife is going to cheat.

Summary

Chapter three starts with Lennie being given a puppy from Slim, which he becomes very attached to. George tells Slim about his and Lennie's relationship, how they ended up as a team, and how they had to run away because Lennie was accused of rape. In addition, Candy's dog, who is very old and ill, ends up being put out of misery by Carlson. Although it seemed like a good idea at first, Candy ends up feeling regret. Curley comes into the bunk house, looking for his wife, but the men have not seen her, so Curly asks were Slim is, and goes to the barn to find Slim, followed by Carlson and Whit. When they leave, George tells Lennie about their dream house and Carlson becomes interested in the plan, so they decide that if all of them put their money together, they should be able to move out in a month, but it must be kept a secret. As Slim and the rest of the men appear, Slim gets annoyed by Curley's  accusations, and Curley gets mad. Curley takes his anger out on Lennie,making him bleed, but Lennie does not attack until George tells him to. Lennie ends up crushing his hand, but Curley agrees not to tell the doctor that Lennie did it.