Two men, one dream, and a river that remembers everything.
Who drives the story
Small, quick, sharp-featured; Lennie's guardian and only friend since childhood. He carries the dream of a farm for both of them, and in the end he carries the gun that ends it.
A huge, strong man with a child's mind who loves soft things and kills them without meaning to. His dream is simply to tend the rabbits, and his own strength is what takes it away.
The old swamper with one hand, who let Carlson shoot his ancient dog and never forgave himself. He puts his $350 life savings into the farm, buying a future just in time to watch it die.
The Boss's short, aggressive son, a former semi-professional boxer with a vaseline-filled glove. He picks a fight with Lennie, loses a crushed hand, and leads the mob at the end.
The only woman on the ranch, unnamed, flirtatious, and desperately lonely; she once dreamed of the movies. She finds her one real conversation in the barn, and it kills her.
The jerkline skinner with 'a majesty achieved only by royalty and master craftsmen,' the one man everyone respects. He alone understands what George did at the river and why.
The thick-bodied ranch hand who shoots Candy's dog with his Luger and can't understand grief. His gun and his blindness bookend the ending.
Also in the story
The black stable hand with a crooked back, isolated in the harness room. He knows dreams fail—he's watched men try for years—yet still asks to hoe a garden patch on the farm, then is threatened back into his place.
Curley's father, superintendent of a ranch owned by a big land company. Suspicious of men who travel together and answer questions in one voice.
The woman who raised Lennie and left George to look after him. She returns only as a hallucination, scolding Lennie in his last hour.
How they are connected
Small, quick, sharp-featured; Lennie's guardian and only friend since childhood.
The old swamper with one hand, who let Carlson shoot his ancient dog and never forgave himself.
The Boss's short, aggressive son, a former semi-professional boxer with a vaseline-filled glove.
He picks a fight with Lennie, loses a crushed hand, and leads the mob at the end.
He alone understands what George did at the river and why.
Curley's father, superintendent of a ranch owned by a big land company.
The woman who raised Lennie and left George to look after him.
The woman who raised Lennie and left George to look after him.
Go deeper
Loneliness · The dream of the farm · Strength and weakness · Mercy and killing
Themes explainedThe full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.
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