Section 3 OMAM

• Slim says he will give Lennie one his puppies, and this fills Lennie with joy.
• Slim tells George that he thinks Lennie is an excellent worker, even though he’s “cuckoo”, and this prompts George to defend Lennie, saying, “he's dumb as hell, but he ain't crazy.”
• George confides in Slim and tells why he looks after Lennie:

  • George explains that he started taking care of Lennie when Lennie’s Aunt Clara died.
  • George also says that he didn’t really like looking after Lennie at first, and that he used to take advantage of the fact that Lennie would do whatever George wanted, but he eventually learned to be kind to him.
• George also reveals the real story about why he and Lennie had to leave their old jobs in Weed in such a hurry, but reassures Slim that Lennie was innocent and was not trying to rape the woman, as she had accused him of doing, but “jus' wanted to touch that red dress, like he wants to pet them pups all the time.”
• Carlson, another worker on the ranch, convinces Candy, the old man who is in charge of cleaning the farm, to let him kill Candy’s dog which “jus' suffers hisself all the time.” The dog is extremely old and Carlson has been complaining about the “stink.”
• Still upset about the death of his dog, Candy hears George and Lennie talking about their dream to own a small farm “and live of the fatta the lan’”. Candy reveals that he has some money saved up and would be happy to give it to them if they let him join them.
• Curley starts a fight with Lennie, hitting him repeatedly in the face while Lennie looks “helplessly at George” until George tells him to fight back and “get him”. Lennie grabs Curley’s fist and Curley is soon “flopping like a fish on a line.” When Lennie eventually lets go, Curley’s hand is completely crushed.
• Slim takes control of the situation and makes Curley promise to say that he injured his hand in an accident with a machine: "I think you got your han' caught in a machine.”