Of Mice and Men characters

Appears from the start

A small, quick, sharp-featured migrant ranch worker who travels with and looks after his companion Lennie. Clever and practical but often exasperated by the trouble Lennie causes, he stays loyal to him and speaks for them both. He holds tightly to a shared dream of one day buying a little farm where the two of them can live and work for themselves. He is careful and watchful, coaching Lennie on how to behave and where to hide if anything goes wrong.

Appears from the start

A huge, immensely strong man with a childlike mind and an intellectual disability, wholly dependent on his companion George. Gentle and eager to please, he loves to pet soft things such as mice and puppies but does not understand his own strength and often kills them by accident. He clings to the promise that on their future farm he will get to tend the rabbits. He and George fled their last job in the town of Weed after Lennie frightened a woman by grabbing hold of her dress.

First appears in chapter 2

An aging ranch handyman who does cleanup work around the bunkhouse after losing a hand in a machinery accident. His only companion is an old, half-blind dog he has kept since it was a pup. Lonely and anxious about being turned out once he is too old to be useful, he watches the other men and worries about his future on the ranch.

First appears in chapter 2

The ranch boss's son, a small, aggressive young man and former amateur boxer who is quick to pick fights, especially with men bigger than himself. Newly married, he is jealous and suspicious of his wife and keeps a close, controlling watch on her. He wears a work glove on one hand and takes an immediate dislike to Lennie.

First appears in chapter 2

The only woman living on the ranch, recently married to Curley and already restless, bored, and lonely. She dresses up and drifts through the bunkhouse and yard looking for someone to talk to, which the workers read as trouble and avoid, wary of Curley's temper. She hints at a past hope of a career in the movies that never came to anything.

First appears in chapter 2

The ranch's skilled jerkline skinner, who drives the mule teams and is quietly regarded by everyone as a natural authority whose word carries weight. Calm, observant, and fair-minded, he treats George and Lennie with respect and becomes the one man George feels able to confide in. His dog has just had a litter of puppies.

First appears in chapter 3

A blunt, unsentimental ranch hand who lives in the bunkhouse. Bothered by the smell of Candy's decrepit old dog, he presses the old man to let him put the animal down and offers to shoot it himself with his pistol. He is practical and unmoved by others' feelings.

First appears in chapter 4

The ranch's Black stable hand, who tends the horses and is made to live alone in a small room off the harness room, kept apart from the white workers. His nickname comes from a crooked back, the result of being kicked by a horse. Isolated and worn down by the constant exclusion, he is guarded and protective of his few private possessions and his own small space.