The story begins when George and Lennie prepare to arrive at a ranch to work - and ends in tragedy [tragedy: A type of drama in which characters undergo suffering or calamity, and which usually ends with a death. A sad or catastrophic event causing suffering or death. ] just four days later. The story is told in the third personthird person: The verb form that indicates the action is being done neither by the speaker ('I') or by the person being addressed ('you'), but by a third person - a 'he', 'she' or 'they'., so we are provided with a clear, unbiased view of all the characters.