At the end
of the book,returns to the pool where the story began and takes a long drink. Then his aunt
appears to him in his mind and lectures him for being a problem to . Finally a giant imaginary
rabbit that, significantly, talks in Lennie's voice appears to him. It symbolizes his conscience
or super-ego, and berates him ruthlessly for the trouble he has caused George. Through this
rabbit, Lennie condemns himself harshly and imagines punishing himself by separating from George
and going to live all alone in a cave. The rabbit torments Lennie, saying:
He's gonna beat hell outa you an' then go away an' leave
you.
The imaginary rabbit repeats over and over that
George is going to leave him, until Lennie puts his hands over his ears and cries out for
George.
When George arrives, and Lennie realizes he is not angry at him, the
giant scolding nightmare rabbit goes away. It is replaced by its opposite as George brings
comfort, conjuring for Lennie the dreamscape of the farm full of rabbits. Now, the image of the
rabbit represents the paradise of a better life on his own farm with George, living off the fat
of the land.
Rabbits accompany Lennie, either in reality or his dreams,
throughout the novella, and represent both his self loathing at the way he destroys dreams (just
as he destroys rabbits), and the dream itself.
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