By John Steinbeck

 Agrees to care for Lennie, finds fun at Lennie’s expense at first  Understands his responsibility for Lennie’s life and death  Appears noble  Tragic flaw – his willingness to hide the wrongs Lennie commits  Tries to make his and Lennie’s dream come true, only to see it collapse

 Retarded and means no harm; tries hard to obey George  Can’t anticipate or understand the consequences of his actions  Has great strength; large with shapeless features  Has a sense of innocence but is terrified when George is displeased with him  Doesn’t understand the harm his strength can bring

 Ranch boss’s son, small and quick  Hot-tempered and belligerent  Jealous and possessive of his new wife, whom he does not love

 Never named directly  Dresses provocatively, flirts with ranch workers  Bored and disappointed with present life, unhappy with new husband  She and Curley provide suspense and climax of plot

 Old ranch worker who has lost one hand, is helpful and friendly  Afraid of being fired when he gets too old to work  Plans to help George and Lennie buy a farm

 Master skinner (mule driver) at ranch  Quiet, grave, dignified, and perceptive  Accepts people as they are  High moral standards, respected for skill and authority

 Powerful ranch worker  Practical and down to earth  Focuses on actions and things  Unaware of others’ feelings

 Black stable hand at ranch  Proud and aloof  Lives by himself in the harness room  Endures pain from a crooked spine  Yearns to join George, Lennie, Candy as they dream of a small farm  Lonely life serves as counterpoint to George’s and Lennie’s life

 George Milton – reference to Milton, the poet who is physically blind; George is blind to the importance of his friendship with Lennie  Lennie Small – presents irony. He is actually big, but small brained  Curley – typical name for a bully “cur” Middle English for “to growl”, an inferior dog, surly or cowardly fellow

 Carlson – Old German for “farmer”  Crooks – crooked spine  Candy – sweet  Curley’s nameless wife – it is significant in its absence (the prostitute Susy has a name), called by many other nicknames

 Candy’s old dog – represents Candy, old past his use, wants to be spared from future suffering, should have been put out of misery by trusted friend  Rabbits – represent Lennie’s dream  Curley and his wife – represent evil – both oppress and abuse the workers

 Curley’s wife – reaches out for human contact and is killed by it  Lennie – peaceful, gentle man, becomes an agent of death for so many creatures  Slim – sanctions shooting of Lennie after refusing to be drawn into violence by Curley

 All main characters suffer from it, try to flee from it  A part of an itinerant ranch worker’s life  Fear of loneliness is major reason why George and Lennie stay together  Curley’s wife is so lonely she forces her attention on workers; leads to her death

 George and Lennie dream of having their own place, central to action of story  Dream compels them to stay at the ranch though they sense danger  Characters say repeatedly they share the same dream, but none achieve it  Curley’s wife dreams of becoming film star, frustrated by marriage and empty life

 Dream gives George, Lennie, Candy, and Crooks a sense of dignity because they hope to succeed where others have failed  Lennie takes pride in George’s friendship and in his part of the dream  Curley has little pride, challenges every man he meets to a fight  Crook’s pride cause aloofness; when he reaches out he is reminded of “his place”

 George and Lennie’s dream of having their own place, being their own boss, and “living off the fatta the lan”  Other ranch workers who want part of the same dream  Lennie’s fascination with rabbits, owning them represents his view of the dream  Curley’s wife has her own dream – being in films  Curley illustrates a dark side of dream – becoming violent

 George’s makes him regret pranks played on Lennie; also compels him to defend Lennie from taunts and threats  Lennie feels bad when he does “a bad thing”; tries to do right by watching and listening to George  Ranch workers will patronize prostitutes, yet condemn Curley’s wife for being flirtatious

 Candy’s sense of morality leads him to regret not shooting his own dog  Men regard Curley’s aggressiveness as unfair; he expects sympathy  George believes he must shoot Lennie rather than have strangers hurt him  Slim passes judgment on Lennie’s death saying twice, “you hadda do it”  Curley and Carlson shown as morally oblivious to Lennie’s death