Of Mice and Men - Character Profiles

Lennie Small

     Lennie is huge. That is his main physical appearance and is the complete opposite of George. It is mentioned and recognised wherever he goes and is also a key point in his survival. Steinbeck compares the way Lennie walks to that of bear, ‘he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws.’

     Lennie’s speech is very slow and deliberate and it’s almost as if he has to think about every sentence very carefully before he says it. You can tell simply from listening to Lennie talk that he is developmentally impaired. For this reason, George tells Lennie that he must not speak during the interviews for jobs. Lennie takes it on as his responsibility to remember that he must not talk. ‘I...ain’t gonna say nothin’. Jus’ gonna stan’ there.’ 

     Lennie’s ways of thinking are incredibly simple and naive. He has many similarities to a child which enforces the idea that George is like a father or big brother figure to Lennie. Lennie’s mental disability means that he is not able to act in the smart, sneaky way that many of the men around him do. It is obvious from the beginning of the book that Lennie is heavily dependent on George. ‘...because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why!’         

     Lennie’s main relationship in the book is with George. As I have already stated, Lennie is reliant upon George just like a child would be reliant upon their parents. It is obvious that Lennie feels complete trust for George and it is also apparent that Lennie is able to read George much better than he would be able to read most other people. Lennie sometimes uses this to his advantage, for example when George looses his temper with Lennie, he immediately feels guilty about it. Lennie is then able to pick up on this feeling of guilt and manipulate it to his advantage. ‘George, you want I should go away and leave you alone?... I could go off in the hills there...If I foun’ a mouse, nobody’d take it away from me.’ This is the only time so far that the readers have seen Lennie take on a smarter, scheming role.

     Lennie does not have any relationships with any of the other characters in the book so far. He seems to be content and secure with having only George as his true friend. This is a contrast to the way George feels as sometimes it becomes evident that George does think of the life he would have if he wasn’t tied down with Lennie.

     I feel that Lennie is easily intimidated by other characters in the book. His size and his inability to talk in a way that is recognised and accepted by others also makes him an easy target for abuse. When Lennie has run-ins with other characters, it doesn’t seem to make him too upset, he just shows a lack of understanding and a feeling of unease about his surroundings. Lennie has no understanding of how he could use his size to his advantage which is sad, because his size is the only thing he really has to his advantage. ‘I don’t want no trouble, Don’t let him sock me, George!’

Candy

     One of the main features of Candy’s physical appearance is the fact he has only one hand. It is unknown how he lost it, but in its place is a ‘stick-like wrist.’ Candy is a swamper which means that he does not take a huge amount of pride in his appearance. When his is introduced to the book at the beginning of the second chapter, he has a few days facial growth and also has a ‘drag-footed, grey of muzzle, pale, blind, moth-eaten’ pet dog which appears to be the pride of Candy’s life.

    Candy at the time of being introduced to the book, is the oldest character the novel has. He plays this part well in the things that he says and the way he says them. He could be compared to ‘Dot Cotton’, the Eastenders famous granny gossip.

     It is through Candy’s character that Steinbeck informs the readers of many of the other characters working at the Ranch and the history behind them. He soon becomes a liked character by the readers and by George as he soon realises that Candy is a valuable way of getting accurate gossip from a friendly face. ‘Well, I tell ya what, Curley says he’s keepin’ that hand soft for his wife.’

    Candy isn’t spoken about by the other people in the book much. He kind of fades into the background as he has probably been part of the ranch team for years now. This, in my opinion, makes his role as prime gossiper even more effective. It’s hard to tell where his character is going to go throughout the course of the book but personally, I think so far, he is one of the novel’s good guys.

Curley

     Curley’s appearance is of huge importance to him, and the way his character is portrayed to the readers. His appearance reeks of self-confidence and importance, from his high heeled boots to his healthy, tanned complexion. The only insecurity Curley has about his appearance is the fact he is small. This dismays Curley to no end and is possible one of the reasons he feels he must act the way he does.

     The first thing you learn about Curley is his pugnacious nature. When he meets Lennie and George, the two new guys, he is immediately aggressive, rude and confrontational. ‘You answer when you’re spoke to!’ 

     The readers wonder at first, how a small weedy dude like Curley can get away with speaking to bigger, stronger, smarter men the way he does without getting beaten to a pulp, or sacked. The answer is simple and quite frustrating. Curley’s father is the boss of the ranch; therefore he can get away with murder.

     Personally, I think Curley is a very insecure young man who deals with it by taking out his aggression on the easiest targets around him. He acts over confident and in-control, to hide the fact that he is scared and not really sure of himself at all. This could be one of the reasons he took up boxing when he was young, and is now a lightweight champ. To prove something to the people around him.

     Curley’s feelings of distrust and uncertainty cannot helped by the fact he has recently married a woman who seems to be more interested in grabbing the attention of the other ranch workers than Curley.  

     Curley speaks in an intimidating tone that, if you couldn’t see him, would actually lead you to believe he is someone to be scared of. ‘You seen a girl around here?...Well which way’d she go?!’ Curley barks orders, questions and statements at people as if they are worth nothing to him. I think it comes as a surprise when George stands up to Curley and speaks to him in the same manner, with no fear of the lightweight boxer. ‘He will talk if he wants to tell you anything,’

    I think Curley was introduced to the book with the intention of him being a ‘baddie’ but to be honest, he is more of a joker. The characters in the book do not respect him or take him seriously and I don’t think the readers will either. Gossipers like Candy relish on characters like Curley as it gives him something interesting to gossip about, especially to new people who don’t really know right from wrong at the ranch yet. ‘Curley is cockier’n ever since he got married.’

Curley’s Wife

     We don’t know much about Curley’s wife. We hear about her before we see her which gives the readers a conception on what she is like before we even meet her. She is described as ‘purty’, having ‘the eye’ and a ‘tart’ We hear this from Candy, the resident gossip, so we don’t actually know if he is telling the truth but when we meet her, we realise he isn’t far off.

     As readers, we get a lot of fun out of Curley’s wife’s character. We don’t know her well enough to know her name, yet she still plays an important part in the story. For a start, she is the only female on the ranch which makes room for the workers to get very excited and for Curley to get very paranoid.

     When Curley’s wife enters the book in person, she is what we all expected; ‘Rouged lips, heavily made-up and red finger-nails.’ She is obviously and strangely flirtatious for someone who is newly married, ‘Nobody can’t blame a person for lookin’. George picks up on that and takes an instant dislike to her, ‘Jesus, what a tramp.’ but that may be just because he has an dislike for Curley.

     Lennie is immediately drawn in by this very feminine, sexy, attractive lady and George and the readers know that this fascination that Lennie has could all very easily turn nasty, like it did in weed. That is yet another concern that adds one more layer to the already enthralling storyline.

Crooks

     Crooks the stable buck, has not actually been seen in person so far in the book. He has, however, been spoken about a fair deal which makes him a very prominent part of the story even though we have not seen him in action. Crooks is a black man and he is referred to as a ‘nigger’ ‘Crooks’ is a nickname he was given, due to the fact he has a crooked spine from where a horse kicked him.

     Candy is used again as a source of information in this instance, informing George, Lennie and the readers of Crooks’ situation. We find out that because Crooks is black, he has a room to himself and is not allowed to share with anyone else. Candy describes Crooks as ‘a nice fella, too.’ and speaks of past Christmas celebrations when Crooks was allowed to join in and have a good time. When the boss is angry, Candy says he projects his anger at Crooks who is able to brush it off as he spends as much time as he can reading.

     For a character we haven’t met yet, we know a lot about Crooks and the person he is, but again, we must remember that we have only heard this from Candy and it may not be the complete truth.

     Crooks has had a big build up to his entering of the book, so for this reason, I believe that he will go on to be a prominent character of the book.

Slim

     Slim is a coooool dude, man! He has the laid-back, confident – but not arrogant personality that would make women squeal with delight if he even sneezed in their direction, and men want to be the first to buy him a drink down the pub.

     When Slim first enters chapter 2, he has the intro of all intros and this time, it’s not even Candy who’s speaking about him. It’s the narrator himself, ‘he moved with a majesty... the prince of the ranch... there was a gravity in his manner... his authority so great... this is Slim.’ With this kind of build to his entrance, Slim has a lot to live up to, but somehow he manages to, just being his easy, cool, controlled, chilled-out self.

     His first line to Lennie and George as he stands in the doorway of the bunk-house with his crushed stetson hat, long black damp straight hair and hatchet face is, ‘It’s brighter’n a bitch outside.’ This, although not obvious, is one of the friendliest welcomes George and Lennie receive from anyone at the Ranch. Slim has not had a huge part in the book so far, but his entrance to the book and his calm, serene quality bring something special to the novel that is unforgettable.

     There is lots of possibility for this character in the next few chapters of the book. Personally, I can see him getting involved in something quite nasty with Curley. We are all aware of Curley’s nature and to be honest, I think Slim is everything Curley could ever dream of being as he does not have to wear high heeled boots with spurs on to gain respect around the ranch, he just has it, like he has his good looks and his way with words. We have also witnessed a flirtatious moment between Slim and Curley’s wife so this could be another match, ready to start a fire between them.

     Slim is a character I am personally going to enjoy reading about and seeing unfold as he seems to be packed with so much mystery and wisdom that its hard to tell if it’s really him or all an act.

     I have now finished my character profiles on the main characters of chapters 1 and 2 of ‘Of Mice and Men.’ I have covered all the areas that I think are relevant for each character and have tried to predict what I think the future has in store for them.

     The characters from this novel have fascinated me as there are so many different personalities and clashing roles and ideas. Steinbeck has crafted these characters so carefully that it makes you actually care what their fate is – and when reading, get sucked into this world and completely forget it’s fiction.

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