Chapter 6

A Summary:

     In the final chapter of Of Mice and Men, everything seems to fall apart. With Lennie gone, and Curley's dead wife left in the barn, everyone goes out to search for Lennie. George knows where he is hiding, and gets to him before any of the other men can. He sits down and comforts Lennie, telling him he is not mad at what he did and will not punish him. While doing this, he tells Lennie to look out towards the horizon when he speaks. George, armed with a pistol, attempts to point the gun at the back of Lennie's head. This attempt fails multiple times, but the last time, when Lennie asks when they will get to own the farm, George says now. He pulls the trigger, and Lennie slumps over into the sand. Right then is when the others arrive, and Slim takes George away for a walk.

A Prediction- After the End:

     Since the book ends right when George kills Lennie, you don't get much insight on what happens after this event. I cannot make the clearest predictions on what can happen next, but I do feel like Carlson and Curly will not even treat this as a major event, and will go back to their normal lives afterwards. As for George, I believe he would leave the farm and maybe even get a stable job instead of job-hopping like he used too. 

A Question:

    The last sentence of the book is dialogue from Carlson, asking Curly what he thinks is eating the two of them (George and Slim). Now I understand why this quote has meaning too it since it shows that Carlson doesn't seem to understand what had just happened, but I don't know why this would be the last sentence of the novel. There are plenty of other ways to end it, like possibly further explaining what happens afterwards, or even including a chapter named "Epilogue". So, my question is:

• Why did the author choose to end on this simple quote with no means of further explanation?