Candy, a one-handed ranch hand, eventually learns of George and Lennie's plans and offers to invest in the farm; Crooks, the black stable hand, is also made aware of George and Lennie's plans and wishes to become part of the dream. While the men work the fields and contemplate their future, Curley's wife, interrupts their dream. While the men recognize the danger that Curley's wife poses to the group, and especially Lennie, there is little that they can do to avoid her. She, too, has had to give up her dreams and must make do with the hand she was dealt. Curley's wife tempts fate as she tries to strike up a friendship with Lennie, and knowing that he likes to pet soft things, offers Lennie the opportunity to pet her soft hair. Her reaction to his expected behavior tragically leads to her death as Lennie does not comprehend her reaction and accidentally kills her. This incident throws George, Lennie, Candy, and Crooks' plan into disarray as Lennie's actions jeopardize the safety...

Unfortunately for Lennie, George believes that the only way to "save" Lennie is to kill him. As George is preparing to shoot Lennie, he tries to distract him by telling him how it will be alright and that their dream of owning a rabbit farm can still come true.
At the end of the novella, not only is Lennie's dream effectively ended, but George, Crooks, and Candy must reconsider George and Lennie's dream. Though possible to achieve, they now realize the price that must be paid if anything should go awry.

Works Cited:

Burns, Robert. "To a Mouse." The World Burns Club. 2004. Web. 19 January 2011.

Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. Penguin twentieth-century classics. New York, N.Y., U.S.A:

Penguin Books, 1994. Print.