Questions...(spoile rs)

**SPOILER ALERT**
Fred's death only pushes George over the edge. He is already in a state of obsession about the hawk and what it means to him
The most important speech in the movie comes when George tells the Michelle Williams character about finding his grandfather dead in the field when George was a child. The body was being torn apart by carrion birds...then a hawk came and frightened them all off. It's symbolic of a natural force that can "make everything alright" ("you're alright" is a common phrase of George's). He fixated on the hawk as a symbol and never lets go. When Fred came along with his mental disorder, George thought the hawk training and mastering could fix Fred. It fails more than once when the bird dies. Then, when Fred dies, George becomes so obsessed with the hawk he can no longer function normally. In the end, he comes to terms with his fixation, and frees the hawk, symbolically letting go of his tormented feelings.