Balaban 1

Liam Balaban Mrs.Ying English 9 Per.3 12/4/13

Epilogue
The next day, George woke up with a severe hangover. He had tried to forget the memory by drinking it away. George looks for Lennie, only focusing on the pain of his headache, forgets the scene from yesterday, but quickly remembers what had happened. George wails loudly at the realization Lennies death. He throws down all of Lennies things on the floor furiously. George cannot think straight half in pain from his friends death and the other from the alcohol. George stampedes out to get a fire going outside the bunkhouse. He runs inside and grabs everything Lennie related. He brings it to the fire and begins to throw mementoes one by one in and as slowly as they burn George begins to change moods. He begins to cry and accept his friends death. George grabs something soft. Curiously he pulls it out. He examines the foul smelling white fur. Then he found out it was a mice. Like the innocent animal, Lennie was unaware of the vicious powers that surround him. Like the mouse Lennie was soft. George did not throw out the mice instead put it aside to be buried with Lennie as a symbol of his gentle nature. In his brain, as the fire crackles, he thinks about his goals. About his goal to keep Lennies protected, also his goal to have their own land and no longer need to work. He had not only failed Lennie but also himself. Now George has become the man he tried to convince himself he wasnt, just another

Balaban 2

migrant worker who will never be able to afford anything more than a prostitute and a drink. The hope of companionship dies with Lennie. He now live the lonely life. George pulls out a picture from the pile. He looks at it and sighs The life of a migrant worker is the loneliest of lives. George comes to the realization that the dream, his American Dream, could never become reality without Lennie. Without Lennie there would be no purpose for George to get the land. Lennie's dream is to tend the rabbits on the farm that he and George hope to one day own. This dream establishes Lennie's complete innocence. But Lennie loves the rabbits because of their soft fur, which later meant his doom. The rabbits represent innocence. The rabbits would mean nothing to George except food, without Lennie. George and Lennies friendship was broken and not by choice. They wanted to live with one another and keep their best interests in mind, to protect each other. It was quiet outside except for the casual crackle of something melting. No one went outside to tell George it was time to eat breakfast. George stared into the warm orange flame that consumed all of Lennies valuables. George could not think of the future but was stuck on the present and past. How could I have killed my best friend? George questions himself. Maybe there was a place I could have escaped to with Lennie George did not move for a couple hours until Slim came out to George. Slim explained that he needed to move on and that he could not continue living in the past.