Abstract
The scene takes place in a clearing, close to the Salinas river, "a few miles South of Soledad", at dusk. Two men come (the two main characters), one following the other. The first one is George and the second one Lennie. They are ranch workers who travel together from a ranch to another to find job. Whereas George is a clever average-sized man, Lennie is a very big and very "dumb" one. We understand that they have been fired of their last job for Lennie has done a "bad thing". The whole chapter aims to present the opposite behaviours of the characters, one commanding all the time, the other obeying as a child. We have to note that Lennie is in fond of petting animals. In that chapter he's got a dead mouse that George forbids him to pet and throws away. Moreover this first chapter reveals the dream both characters share: "to get a little house, a couple of acres, animals (among which rabbits which Lennie likes a lot), and live off the fatta the lan'". Lennie is told, in case he gets in trouble in the ranch, to go hide in the brush close to the river where George would meet him. But if it happened, he would be punished by not being allowed "to tend the rabbits".
