Characters

=Characters= Lennie Small George Milton Curley Candy Curley's wife Carlson Slim Crooks Aunt Clara

Lennie Small
In the novel, Of Mice and Men by John Stienbeck, Lennie Small plays the role of a mentally challenged person. He also has a problem where he loves touching things that are soft. Lennie travels with his friend, George Milton. George decided to take care of Lennie after Lennie's aunt Clara passed away. Ever since then, the two have been traveling together. Lennie's stupidity is shown when they are working on the ranch in Weed. Lennie tries to touch a woman's dress and she claimed that he tried to rape her. Therefore, Lennie's oblivious behavior got the two friends ran out of Weed. When the two friends get to their next job, Lennie is told not to screw things up again. However, he can not help it. Curley's wife lives on the farm and decides to talk to Lennie one day. Lennie sees how soft her hair and keeps pulling at it and petting it that he accidentally breaks her neck. Everyone chases Lennie and it leads to his death. Lennie's actions and personality lead to the downfall of their dream.

Curley
 The boss's son, Curley wears high-heeled boots to distinguish himself from the field hands. Rumored to be a champion prizefighter, he is a confrontational, mean-spirited, and aggressive young man who seeks to compensate for his small stature by picking fights with larger men. Recently married, Curley is plagued with jealous suspicions and is extremely possessive of his flirtatious young wife. He keeps her locked up in his house all day because he doesn't want her with all the men working on the farm. He wears a glove filled with vasaline so he can "keep his hand soft" for his wife. He started a fight with Lennie. **Candy**

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An old man who works at the ranch, who lost his hand in a farming accident. He has an old sheepdog that Carlson kills out of mercy. Candy is a friend to George and Lennie, and plans to buy the farm with them.=====   ** Curley's wife**    The only female character in the novel, Curley's wife is never given a name and is only referred to in reference to her husband. The men on the farm refer to her as a “tramp,” a “[|tart],” and a “looloo.” Dressed in fancy, feathered red shoes, she represents the temp-tation of female sexuality in a male-dominated world. Steinbeck depicts Curley's wife not as a villain, but rather as a victim. Like the ranch-hands, she is desperately lonely and has broken dreams of a better life.   **George Milton**

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George is a small man, with a dark face and sharp features. Smart and quick, he often gets Lennie out of trouble. He and Lennie travel together, and George takes care of him. When Lennie kills Curley's wife, George is forced to shoot his friend. George, also thinking that he is the toughest person, is probably the least intimidating person in the book.=====

 **Crooks ** 

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Crooks, the black stable-hand, gets his name from his crooked back. Proud, bitter, and caustically funny, he is isolated from the other men because of the color of his skin. He is unfortunately referred a n*. Despite himself, Crooks becomes fond of Lennie, and though he derisively claims to have seen countless men following empty dreams of buying their own land, he asks Lennie if he can go with them and hoe in the garden.=====
 * Carlson**

Carlson is another worker. He kills Candy's old sheepdog because he thinks it smells terrible. He later argues that Lennie should be killed for killing Curley's wife.

 * Slim**

Aunt Clara
 Lennie's aunt, who cared for him until her death, does not actually appear in the novel except in the end, as a vision yelling at Lennie for causing trouble for George.