IMPORTANT - CHARACTERS IN OF MICE AND MEN

Of Mice and Men character profiles

 

Try and include these points in your exam.

 

Lennie

*Mentally disabled – The mind of a child.

*Needs to be pacified in order to function. His main goal in life is to end up tending rabbits.

*Relies heavily on George for everything except his physical strength.

*As well as his evident stupidity, he also shows the ability to manipulate George.

*Not aggressive but incredibly strong. No social skills, often gets into trouble.

*Breaks Curley’s hand

*Kills Curley’s wife.

 

Key Quotes

 

Lennie looked sadly up at him. ‘they was so little,’ he said apologetically. ‘ I’d pet ‘em, and pretty soon they bit my fingers and I pinched their heads a little and they was dead.’ – page 27

 

‘If you don’t want me, you only jus’ got to say so, and I’ll go off in those hills right there…An’ I won’t get no mice stole from me.’ – page 31

 

‘Well, he said if I done any more bad things he ain’t gonna let me tend the rabbits.’ – page 123

 

 

George

*Smaller and smarter than Lennie

*Often speaks of desire to own land but never seems to believe it until Candy provides the money.

*Very much ‘one of the boys’ when social interaction requires it, but is a lonely solitary character a lot of the time. He knows that ultimately he will end up with only Lennie for company – this is evidenced by him playing solitaire all the time.

* A hard worker.

*Looks after Lennie as a carer, but appears to have little or no motive for doing so.

*Kills Lennie

 

Key Quotes

 

‘God, you’re a lot of trouble,’ said George. ‘I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail.’ – page 24

 

George’s hand remained outstretched imperiously. Slowly, like a terrier who doesn’t want to bring a ball to its master, Lennie approached, drew back, approached again. – page 26

 

George got up and went over to Lennie’s bunk and sat down on it. ‘I hate that kinda bastard,’ he said. ‘I seen plenty of ‘em. Like the old guy says, Curley don’t take no chances, he always wins.’ – page 51

 

They all sat still, all bemused by the beauty of the thing, each mind was popped into the future when this lovely thing should come about.’ – page 88

 

The hand shook violently, but his face et and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and down again. – page 147

 

Candy

 

*The Old Man

*Loved his dog who was his best friend

*His word means little on the farm – no one listens to him, even over serious matters.

*He is only guaranteed a job unless he becomes unable to work, after which time he will be put out on the streets; his biggest fear.

*Only time he is valued in the book is when he presents George and Lennie with money. After this, they treat him in a much more friendly manner.

*Also has dream of having a place he can retire to, but due to his disability he appears never to have been able to raise a large amount of money. For example, he never goes out, and has lived on the farm for many years, but still only has around 6 months wages saved up. The reason for this is never explained.

 

Key Quotes

 

Candy looked for help from face to face – page 72

 

‘They’ll can me purty soon. Jus’ as soon as I can’t swamp out no bunk houses they’ll put me on the county.’ – page 88

 

‘I ought to of shot that dog myself, George. I shouldn’t ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog.’ – page 89

 

Slim

*Revered and almost worshipped by the longer-standing men on the farm – possibly due to the fact that there is simply nothing  ‘wrong’ with him in their eyes. He is white, no one knows his age, he is reasonably powerful but not too big, works reasonably hard, and is generally a nice guy. It is the extremes in the group who are weeded out or picked on. Slim is no an outsider. A testament to the idea that those who ‘keep their heads down’ do best in this new modern America.

 

*Makes the final decision to kill Candy’s dog.

 

*Has more respect than anyone on the farm, and even bosses Curley around when he injures his hands.

 

Key Quotes

When he had finished combing his hair he moved into the room, and he moved with a majesty only achieved by royalty and master craftsmen – page 55

 

‘He ain’t mean,’ said Slim. ‘I can tell a mean guy a mile off.’ – page 68

 

Candy looked helplessly at him, for Slim’s opinions were law. – page 72

 

The Boss

*Never named – implies that he represents all of the wealthy and powerful people in USA/The world at the time.

 

*Oppresses the black character Crooks in a physical form. Implies that power is corrupt, or immoral.

 

Key Quote

 

He sure burned when you wasn’t here this morning. Come right in when we was eatin’ breakfast and says, “Where the hell’s them new men?” An’ he give the stable buck hell, too.’ – page 40

 

Curley

*The boss’ son.

*Small in stature, he feels he must assert his physical authority in order to gain respect.

*Automatically dislikes Lennie due to his sheer size and strength and sees it as his duty to attack him.

*Has a beautiful wife whom he views as a trophy/ possession. There appears to be no love in their relationship and his desire for her is purely sexual. This represents attitudes towards women at the time.

*Attacks  a helpless Lennie without provocation, emphasising the horrible ‘dog eat dog’/’survival of the fittest’ attitude which was sweeping the world at the time. The negative side of the ‘American Dream’.

 

Key Quotes

 

‘Well Curley’s pretty handy,’ the swamper said sceptically. – page 48

 

‘Come on, ya big bastard. Get up on your feet. No big son-of-a-bitch is gonna laugh at me.’ – page 90

 

 

‘I’ll kill the big son-of-a-bitch myself’ - 133

 

 

Curley’s Wife

 

*Aside from ‘Aunt Clara’ who appears in a vision near the end of the book, Curley’s wife is the only woman in the play. This shows how little women mattered in 20s/30s USA, and how much they were oppressed. Interestingly, the only other woman mentioned in the book is the woman who runs the local ‘cat house’ who is also called Clara. Possibly this is a subtle way of the author saying that ‘all women are the same, none of them matter etc’

*All of the men, aside from Lennie, see her as a whore although no one has any proof that she has ever been unfaithful on her horrible husband. It appears their own sexual desires for her manifest themselves in their attitude towards her. They would rather accuse and affront her than be accused of flirting and lose their jobs.

*She was once told she could have achieved her dream of appearing in movies, but this didn’t happen. It appears, however, that this was nothing more than a line used to get her into bed!

*She is desperate for companionship and conversation but is only ever seen as ‘trouble’. She ultimately ends up ‘paying the price’ for her desire for company when she succumbs to Lennie’s overpowering strength and he accidentally kills her.

*Unlike Crooks, nobody ever willingly converses with her or shows her any respect.

 

Key Quotes

 

‘If I catch any one man, and he’s alone, I get along fine with him. But just let two of the guys get together an’ you won’t talk. Jus’ nothing but mad.’ – page 110

 

‘Listen Nigger,’ she said, ‘You know what I can do to you if you open your trap?’ – page 113

 

‘I’m glad you bust up Curley a little bit.’ – page 114

 

Crooks

 

*The only black character in the book.

*Beaten and insulted by almost everybody

*Has the same dreams as everyone else but only dares to speak them at one point in the book when Lennie and Candy win his trust.

*As soon as his dream is met with any sort of challenge, he reverts back to his usual introverted self.

*Appears only to have an affinity with the horses and mules who ‘rattle their chains’ whenever anyone comes to visit Crooks, almost as a warning. Perhaps they have seen him become the victim of physical violence too often.

 

Key Quotes

 

‘You got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me.’ – page 100

 

‘George can tell you screwy things, and it don’t matter. It’s just the talking. It’s just bein’ with another guy. That’s all.’ - page 103

 

Crooks had reduced himself to nothing. There was no personality, no ego – nothing to arouse either like or dislike. – page 114

 

 

Carlson

*A typical, self-centred American.

*Wants to kill Candy’s dog because it smells.

*Kills the dog eventually

*Looks up to the more powerful, more eloquent, more popular Slim.

 

 

 

 

Other things to consider

 

Why does the novel start and end in the same place? Ie, the valley, surrounded by incredible scenery.

 

It is to show that their dilemma is inescapable and they always end back up in the same place etc. Also. they are surrounded by land, and have no chance of owning any of it.

 

 

Why do the horses stamp their feet and rattle their chains at various points in the novel?

 

Why does George always play solitaire?

 

Why does the narrator always tell us how much light is coming in through the windows?