What does the red dress represent in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men?

In John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, the character of Lennie suffers from a handicap. He is a very young child in a very large and powerful man’s body. He is attracted to anything that is furry and cuddly, and to anything that looks interesting or different. And, he feels compelled to touch and caress such objects, oblivious to the practical ramifications of his actions. Early in Steinbeck’s novel, Lennie’s more diminutive but infinitely smarter friend, George, reminds him of an incident repeatedly referred to throughout the story. This incident occurred in the town of Weed, a very small community in Northern California. George references this incident, the result of which was that the two men were “run outa” Weed lest they face certain imprisonment, or worse.

The incident in Weed is discussed again later in the novel, when George and Lennie have arrived at the ranch where they will now live and work, and that will provide the setting for most of the narrative. In a conversation with Slim, the unofficial leader of this group of destitute laborers, George explains Lennie’s character and the reason the two had been forced to flee Weed:

“What’d he do in Weed?” Slim asked again.

“Well, he seen this girl in a red dress. Dumb bastard like he is, he wants to touch ever’thing he likes. Just wants to feel it. So he reaches out to feel this red dress an’ the girl lets out a squawk, and that gets Lennie all mixed up, and he holds on ‘cause that’s the only thing he can think to do. Well, this girl squawks and squawks. I was jus’ a little bit off, and I heard all the yellin’, so I comes running, an’ by that time Lennie’s so scared all he can think to do is jus’ hold on. I socked him over the head with a fence picket to make him let go. He was so scairt he couldn’t let go of that dress. And he’s so God damn strong, you know.”

The “girl” in the red dress, George explains, claimed that the harmless giant of a man raped her, precipitating the chain of events that forced the two to flee town. Later in the novel, towards its climactic ending, the incident in Weed involving the red dress is again referenced, this time in relation to Lennie’s apparent accidental killing of Curley’s flirtatious wife. After the dead woman’s body is discovered, and suspicion understandably focuses on Lennie, Slim says to George, “Maybe like that time in Weed you was tellin’ about.”

The significance of the red dress is Lennie’s attraction to it, which leads to the unfortunate misunderstanding with the girl who happened to be wearing it, and which precipitates the two men’s flight from one town to the next, where Lennie will encounter yet another object he wants to caress—this time with fatal results.