Of Mice and Men Quotes of Character Descriptions Year 9 English

For each character I've included the parts of Steinbeck's initial description of them that I felt most relevant (most of the quotes are quite large). Please take not of the level of description give for each character, the repetition of words and descriptions and the parallels and opposites between characters and descriptions.

George

“The first man was small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features. Every part of him was defined: small, strong hands, slender arms, a thin and bony nose.” (p. 4)

Lennie

“a huge man, shapeless if face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders: and he walked heavily dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws.” (p. 4)

Candy

“a tall, stoop-shouldered old man” (p. 19) “out of the sleeve came a round stick-like wrist but no hand.” (p. 20)

the boss

“a little stocky man… His thumbs were stuck in his belt, on each side of a square steel buckle. On his head was a soiled brown Stetson hat, and he wore high-heeled boots and spurs to prove he was not a laboring man.” (p. 22)

Candy’s dog

“a drag-footed sheep dog, gray of muzzle, and with pale, blind old eyes. The dog struggled lamely… and lay down, grunting softly to himself and licking his grizzled, moth-eaten coat.” (p. 25)

Curley

“a thin young man with a brown face, with brown eyes and a head of tightly curled hair. He wore a work glove on his left hand, and, like the boss, he wore high-heeled boots.” (p. 26)

Curley’s Wife

“A girl… She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages. She wore a cotton house dress and red mules, on the insteps of with were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers.” (p. 32)

Slim

“a tall man… He held a crushed Stetson hat… Like the others he wore blue jeans and a short denim jacket… he moved with a majesty only achieve by royalty and master craftsmen… the prince of the ranch… There was a gravity in his manner and a quiet so profound that all talk stopped when he spoke. His authority was so great that his word was taken on any subject… His ear heard more than was said to him, and his slow speech had overtones not of thought, but of understanding beyond though.” (p. 34 - 35)

Carlson

“A powerful, big-stomached man” (p. 36)

Whit

“A young labouring man… His sloping shoulders were bent forward and he walked heavily on his heels, as though he carried the invisible grain bag.” (p. 46)

Crooks

“Crooks was a proud, aloof man. He kept his distance and demanded that other people keep theirs. His body was bent… and his eyes lay deep in his head, and because of their depth seemed to glitter with intensity. His lean face was lined with deep black wrinkles, and he had thin, pain-tightened lips” (p. 67)