"Oh, sure, George. I remember that now. " His hands went quickly into his side coat pockets. He said gently, "George.... I ain't got mine. I musta lost it, " He looked down at the ground in despair. "You never had none, you crazy bastard. I got both of 'em here. Think I'd let you carry your own work card?" Lennie grinned with relief. "I.... I thought I put it in my side pocket. " His hand went into the pocket again. George looked sharply at him. "What'd you take outa that pocket?" "Ain't a thing in my pocket, " Lennie said cleverly. "I know there ain't. You got it in your hand. What you got in your hand - hidin' it?" "I ain't got nothin', George, Honest. " "Come on, give it here. " Lennie held his closed hand away from George's direction. "It's only a mouse, George. " "A mouse? A live mouse?" "Uh-uh. Jus' a dead mouse, George. I didn' kill it. ' Honest! I found it. I found it dead. " "Give it here!" said George. "Aw, leave me have it, George. " "Give it here!" Lennie's closed hand slowly obeyed. George took the mouse and threw it across the pool to the other side, among the brush. "What you want of a dead mouse, anyways?" "I could pet it with my thumb while we walked along, " said Lennie. "Well, you ain't petting no mice while you walk with me. You remember where we're goin' now?" Lennie looked startled and then in embarrassment hid his face against his knees. "I forgot again. " "Jesus Christ, " George said resignedly. "Well - look, we're gonna work on a ranch like the one we come from up north." "Up north?" "In Weed. "
In this paragraph, John Steinbeck emphasizes Lennie's repetitive forgetfulness, as well as his simple desire to have things repeated, a mantra of idealism that he maintains (relating to the rabbits and the farm, both of which Lennie idealizes, along with the other men who are in with them on the deal to "live off the fatta the land.") George, in contrast, is sensible and realistic, and checks Lennie's childlike behavior with a mature response (he takes the mouse away from Lennie.) This paragraph effectively establishes the almost comically absurd relationship between George and Lennie. Although George is annoyed and burdened by Lennie's recurrent childlike mistakes (which are characterized by George's "stories" about the farm and what George could do if he didn't have Lennie to weigh him down, that Lennie has recognized as established into a routine), his love and sense of responsibility for Lennie, as a friend and a type of father figure, are recurrent at the end of the novel; when George, with conflicting emotions shoots Lennie.
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