This is a story about two friends, George
and Lennie, who are on their way to a working
farm.
George is a small man with lots of big talk.
In contrast, Lennie is a simple-minded large
man who has a tendency to get in trouble.
Both hope to one day own a farm where they
can live off the land and Lennie can tend
to the rabbits.
They enter the farm which is run by Curley,
a spoiled, mean boss who challenges George
and Lennie immediately upon arrival.
Curley is married to a promiscuous woman who
is known to cause trouble.
On numerous occasions, George warns Lennie
to stay away from her.
The working life for George and Lennie isn't
too bad, as Lennie is a great field worker.
Unfortunately, he accidentally kills Curley's
wife.
In a panic, Lennie flees.
Curley sends his men, including George, to
hunt down Lennie with a shoot-to-kill policy,
as it is suspected that Lennie stole a gun.
Lennie runs to a secret spot that George had
designated for times of trouble and the two
meet there.
Lennie is scared and asks George to tell him
about their future farm.
While telling the story, George pulls out
the stolen gun and shoots Lennie in the back
of the head.
After Lennie's death, the men return to the
farm for drinks.
The relationship between George and Lennie
is complex, yet not so foreign.
In contemporary movies and stories, we tend
to see this type of relationship a lot - the
best friend story.
However, the difference here is that there
is a tragic element to this relationship.
It is still unclear why George stole the gun
at the end of the story.
One would like to think that he wanted to
nobly be the one to kill his friend, but an
argument could be made that he wanted to be
free of responsibility of Lennie and to be
able to live his own life.
Taking a step back, this is really a story
of misfit toys.
Each character - George, Lennie, Curley, his
wife, each worker - has been dealt a bad hand
in life.
And unlike the Christmas special where the
misfit toys make it off the island, these
misfits are condemned to be doomed.
