Of Mice and Men
by John Steinbeck
Table of Contents
Cast of Characters
Lennie – Lennie is a large, awkward migrant worker that exhibits many childlike qualities. He is a strong worker that can take directions well, although he is mentally slow and does not attain any advanced reasoning or analytical skills. Lennie relies heavily on his traveling companion George for protection from threatening variables in his life, and he looks to George for guidance in all choices and actions he takes. Lennie takes solace and great satisfaction in imagining an idyllic farm that he hopes to one day own with George. George also shares in this vision of land, a home, and animals to call their own, but Lennie seems to have faith in this vision slightly more than George does. Coupled with Lennie’s lack of common sense and mental faculties is his enormous physical strength. This strength tends to get him in trouble, as he enjoys petting things that are soft, which generally leads to disastrous results.
George – George is described as a wiry, small man, demonstrating quick wit. He has been responsible for the care of Lennie for several years, and the two men travel together working on farms throughout the region around Soledad, California. Although George has chosen to remain loyal and devoted to caring for Lennie, he often talks about how his life would be much easier and more enjoyable if he were not burdened by the neediness of Lennie. He truly has an affinity for Lennie, and he dreams of eventually settling down on a farm where the two men could reap the benefits of labor on their own land. Lennie continually acts as a reminder and a motivator for George, as he often asks George to describe their future of which they dream.
Curley – Curley is the son of the boss at the farm where George and Lennie are employed. He is aggressive and confrontational, always seeking out a fight. He wishes to remain separated from the field hands, and he chooses to wear high-heeled boots in order to establish his difference from them. He is greatly disliked by the field hands due to his...
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