In this Chapter, Lennie and George have found their way onto a ranch owned by a man named Curley. Lennie is a large, burly oaf of man who does not seem to know his own strength. We know from the beginning of the novel that Lennie has a child-like preoccupation with petting "nice things", things that are soft like mice, rabbits and...uh oh! puppies. In his eagerness to care for these things, he often ends up injuring or killing them.
There is a horseshoe tournament going on at the ranch and while the rest of the men are out enjoying the games, Lennie is in the barn grieving over a puppy that he has accidentally killed. Curley's young bride comes in and starts a conversation with Lennie who is at first reluctant to talk to her (George had warned him not to). Eventually, the two fall into a conversation and the woman makes the mistake of inviting Lennie to feel how soft her hair is. Lennie eagerly accepts, but when the touching gets too rough, Lennie panics and covers her nose and mouth so that George would not hear her. A struggle ensues and Lennie accidentally breaks the woman's neck. He scrambles to cover her dead body with hay (like he did to the puppy) and leaves the barn to tell George of the "very bad thing" that he has done .
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