lmost every character in the novel is disadvantaged in
some way. The most obviously disadvantaged character is Lennie; he is mentally
handicapped and it prevents him from being able to live as an independent adult. He
relies on George, which is evident from their very first interaction. In chapter one,
Lennie mimics George and walks behind him, indicating that he is the follower in the
relationship ("....even in the open one stayed behind the other..." pg 2). Lennie is so
forgetful, he mistakenly thinks he has lost his bus ticket when he never even had it to
begin with! (" 'George, I ain't got mine, I musta lost it.' He looked down at the ground
with despair..."pg 5). There are instances of the disadvantages Lennie faces in each
chapter.
Although the fact that Crooks is the only African
American seems like an obvious sign of his disadvantage, the racism and isolation he
faces is more subtle, and not expressed by Crooks until Chapter 4. Candy introduces the
character of Crooks to the readers by telling George and Lennie in Chapter 2 that, "the
stable buck is a nigger." He sleeps in a separate bunk, and is not always included in
their recreational activities. Finally in Chapter 4, Crooks openly vents his
frustrations to Lennie, knowing Lennie is incapable of
understanding.
"S'pose you didn't have nobody. S'pose you
couldn't go into the bunk house and play rummy 'cause you was black. How'd you like
that? S'pose you had to sit out here an' read books. Sure you could play horseshoes till
it got dark, but then you got to read books. Books ain't no good. A guy goes nuts if he
ain't got nobody. Don't make no difference who the guy is, long's he's with you. I tell
ya, I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an' he gets
sick."
Curely’s Wife is defined by her relationship. She
has no name! (I am always surprised at how long it takes my students to realize this,
and they often like to name her after they find out). Her obvious disadvantage is being
the only woman on a farm full of men, but she is also young, not very wise, and in an
unhappy marriage. Like Crooks, Curley’s Wife confides in Lennie. In chapter 5, she
confronts Lennie when he tries to ignore her attempts at conversation, and in that
conversation, she reveals her sadness. She says, “Why can’t I talk to you? Don’t I get
to talk to anyone? I get awful lonely.” In other parts of the work, she reveals that
Curely doesn’t like it when she talks to other men and that he has a bad temper, even
breaking some of her records.
Finally, Candy is disabled,
and incapable of working well. He is a swamper, a man who does odd jobs. It seems
that, in Candy’s eyes, he is doing this job because he is old, disabled, and no longer
valuable to his employers. This is symbolized by his dying dog. Candy’s dog was once a
fine dog, but now he is old, smelly and unable to do much. Candy knows the other men
want to shoot the dog, but he feels the dog has been a lifelong friend and does not
deserve to die. Candy suggests to George that perhaps when he is old, someone will
shoot him (Chapter 3). Candy recognizes that, like the dog, he is incapable of giving
back in the ways he once could and is sometimes seen as a hindrance rather than a help.
He fears he too will soon be “dead,” to the men; not in the sense that he will be
killed, but in the sense that his services will no longer be required, and he will not
be able to find new work.
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