1. M & M – the Characters George
George looks after Lennie, he promised Lennie’s Aunty Clara he would.

2. George
He is a good guy, altho’ sometimes he gets cross with Lennie, like when he has to keep on talking about the ‘Dream’. It irritates him sometimes but it has to be done to keep them both going, giving them hope for the future.

3. George
They are not like the other ranch hands; they’ve ‘got each other’.
George is a conscientious minder for Lennie but not with him at all times
E.g. when Lennie makes the mistake which leads to his death. He strokes the hair of Curley's wife (at her invitation) but does it too roughly; she panics and tries to cry out, and Lennie shakes her violently, breaking her neck.

4. George is called a “smart little guy” by Slim
The brush
George is called a “smart little guy” by Slim
Also says Lennie is a “cuckoo”: that is, a lunatic – but Lennie is quite sane; his weakness is a lack of intelligence).
George's modesty is not false - he is bright enough to know that he isn't especially intelligent.
If he were smart, he says, “I wouldn't be buckin' barley for my fifty and found” ($US 50 per month, with free board and lodging).
George is not stupid, but there is no real opportunity for self-advancement, as might be achieved in the west today by education.
He is, in a simple way, imaginative: his picture of the small-holding (small farm) he and Lennie will one day own, is clearly-drawn and vivid, while some of the phrases have a near-poetic quality in their simplicity, as when he begins:
“Guys like us...are the loneliest guys in the world”.

5. Think!
How do you react to George? What is he doing this for? Why bother? What do u think about him going out & leaving Lennie on the Saturday night when Lennie, Crooks & Candy, they all had that chat & Curley’s wife came in?
What will he do at the end of the novel when Lennie is dead?
Is he really a good guy or is he just as lonely & sad as Lennie or Candy or even Curley’s wife?

6. Lennie
Lennie is a simple man who relies on his friend George as Aunt Clara asked. He is strong but hides it, only showing it when George says he can work hard. He is a simpleton, however George puts this down to being hit by a horse when he was young, to excuse his simple behaviour.

7. What will George do now? He had a focus in his life before, now what?
Lennie
He means well, wants to pet things such as the mouse he killed in the brush when we first met them, a velvet dress as in Weed, the puppy Slim gave him which led him on quickly to the killing of Curley’s wife.
What will George do now? He had a focus in his life before, now what?

8. Lennie Small
(His name is the subject of a sad joke:
“He ain't small”. Who says this?).
Lennie is enormously strong. He is simple (has a learning difficulty) though he is physically well co-ordinated and capable of doing repetitive manual jobs (bucking barley or driving a cultivator) with skill.
Lennie has a man's body, but a child's outlook: he has pleasure from “pettin’” soft things, even dead mice, and loves puppies and rabbits. He is dependent, emotionally, on George, who organizes his life and reassures him about their future.
Slim finds out. But panic in others makes Lennie panic: this happened when he tried to “pet” a girl's dress, in Weed, and happens again twice in the novel: first, when he is attacked by Curley, and second, when Lennie strokes the hair of Curley's wife.

9. Curley’s Wife Is she angry? Or sad, disappointed?
Wants love/fame-
The ‘pitchers’
Her marriage is a disappointment
Is she angry?
Or sad, disappointed?
How is she described?
What do other people say about her?
What does she say about herself?
Is she a character we should feel sorry for?

10. Crooks
His life has been different; he is not accepted as one of the ranch hands as he is black. He wishes to join in on the Dream but backs away as he knows it won’t happen for him.
He has given up because he is in the situation he is, black, isolated & lonely
Where does Crooks live? Why does he live there?
Does he have a dream, a vision for the future?

11. He must be desolate! (Totally gutted)
Candy
Candy
Candy is a sad old man, spent his life working on ranches & now has nothing to retire to. He has no where to go, is disabled; his arm has been seriously damaged on the ranch in an accident.
His only companion, his dog, is shot to put it out of its misery; it smells & can’t walk right because of arthritis. This leaves him vulnerable, he is alone & so sees hope in Lennie & George’s dream
He is prepared to put his compensation money in, only to have his dreams shattered when Lennie kills Curley’s wife.
U have to feel for the old guy, he thought he had a future, now it has been destroyed.
He must be desolate! (Totally gutted)

12. Curley, is a rather a stereotype, a two-dimensional villain.
He has married a woman he doesn’t really care for, is possessive about, and has something to prove.

13. Curley
He is the Boss’s son so has power on his side, he uses this to keep control of the men & tries to do so with his wife, often looking for her & being aggressive when doing so.
Conscious of his own failings, he tries to earn respect by picking fights, but is vain, boastful and aggressive. He suspects everyone of laughing at him. His wife's behaviour as a flirt makes sure that they do laugh, even Candy.
He is aggressive, once was a boxer & fancied his chances; he uses this to throw his weight around. He comes unstuck with this macho behaviour when he picks on Lennie.

14. Curley
Lennie holds back until George tells him to ‘let him have it’. Once Lennie is give the permission by George he shows he true extent of his physical strength & crushes Curley’s hand.
This is important as far as structure & character is concerned, it shows us what Lennie is capable of –
so leads up to the death of Curley’s wife.

15. Slim
The classic western film character, good guy, with a sense of right.
He flirts with Curley’s wife, the others know it, but nothing will come of it.
He is the head ranch hand & the others look up to him.
He is the only one who really understands George & Lennie, he is there at the end for George & he knows what George will do.
He has a sense of right but also of acceptance of the lives they leave

16. Boss
Curley’s dad.
Only significant because of who he is - the owner of the ranch & Curley’s Dad.
He is important in that Curley’s inheritance comes from him & this is a reason Curley’s wife married Curley-
the best she could get, or so she thought!