Characterization In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Of Mice and Men Characterization
A story is a game of chess. In the game, various chess pieces cooperate to combat a battle, simultaneously, when story elements unite, they create a piece of literature. Pointedly, the element of character is the form of a queen in the game of chess. They are used to protect the king. Or, in terms of literature, they are utilized to add depth and back up the plot.
George is a fatherly figure towards Lennie; he is clever, caring and decisive. "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" (Steinbeck 2). He is described by the quote as being light on his feet and tan with

keen features. Afraid that George may leave him, and to reassure himself, Lennie states nervously, "George is careful" (Steinbeck 35). Crooks gives discredit to George, believing that he will drain money at the club instead of saving it for the ranch he will buy with Lennie. However, the fiercely loyal Lennie has full conviction that George will return. He truly believes in George and sees him as careful and wise enough not to leave him and drain their money. George, also, truly cares for Lennie; he shows this throughout the story. To be specific, in order to save Lennie from the violent torments and suffering that Curley desires to deliver upon Lennie, he shoots Lennie himself. Killing Lennie is the last thing he wants to do, but from looking at the other options he thinks about, it is the best one. And, the following scenario displays that he is very decisive in choosing the one option that'll save Lennie from harm's way. He is, to compress the following, wise.
Lennie is an innocent, impressible child in the body of an elephantine, robust, man. "Behind him walked his opposite, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, and wide, sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws"(Steinbeck 2). As mentioned above, Lennie has the very opposite of a scrawny, minuscule body. On the contrary, he is massive. As George is situated in a tight position, he ameliorates it by responding, " Oh! I ain’t saying he’s bright. He ain’t. But I say he’s a God damn good worker" (Steinbeck 12). The boss of the ranch has his suspicions on Lennie, however George clears things up by replying that Lennie isn't very witty, but he is sedulous. Also, Lennie finds pleasure in touching soft things, and so, while going through the silky chocolate brown strands belonging to Curley's wife, his innocent hands grab onto her defenseless neck. Meaning no harm, but to keep the girl from calling out, he doesn't let go, and Curley's wife goes down without warning. With distress and anxiety from having done a bad thing and what George will say, he flees to the refuge of the brush and the woods. As innocent as he is, he didn't mean to annihilate the girl, but his uncontrolled body, had a mind of its own. Lonesome is also a characteristic he beholds, just like Crooks and Curley's wife. When George is away, he has minimal company. All in all, Lennie is a poor fellow with a mental disability who is emotional and childish on the inside living in a strong and unyielding body.
Crooks is an African American man with a crooked back that yearns to be accepted and be seen as any other worker.

Living alone in the shack does not please him, as all it accomplishes is isolating him further from the others and creates an ostracized environment for him. "His body was bent over to the left by his crooked spine, 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 which were lighter than his face" (Steinbeck 33). This adds on to the description of Crooks having dark skin with an arched back. Candy feels out of place entering the residence of a black man. But, in an effort to come off as friendly, he steps into the shack leaving behind his insecurities. In the conversation Candy says something along the lines of, "You have a nice place here. And, it must be nice to have a room all to yourself" (Steinbeck 36). He is simply oblivious to the fact that Crooks may be lonely; he finds Crooks is lucky that he doesn't have to share a room with anyone. Pleased to have company, he opens up with Lennie and Candy. And, along the conversation, he joins in with their plan to own a ranch, which emphasizes his longing for company. He among the many characters, is not the only one which feels lonely. Lennie and the wife of Curley strongly associate with this feeling. In short, a lonely, black man is the best description for

Crooks.
Curley's wife is a girl hopeless for attention. She is a girl that has been misplaced in ranch full of men with no one to talk to; it also seems that she can't get enough attention from the guys. "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" (Steinbeck 16). She is portrayed as a beautiful young woman that takes an interests in making herself standout and look more pulchritudinous. She is seen as a trouble maker, and to keep Lennie safe, he instructs Lennie to preserve distance from her by expessing, "Don’t you even take a look at that bitch. I don’t care what she says and what she does. I seen ‘em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her. You leave her be” (Steinbeck 17). Many of the others, including George view her as nothing but trouble. Many even call her a tramp. George warns Lennie to stay away from her, as she will be reason Lennie will get in trouble in his eyes. She lacks company, and she confides this with Lennie. While the two sit and talk, she lets out everything buzzing inside her mind, such as how she feels at the ranch. Along with Crooks and Lennie, she also is defined as lonely. From the outside she appears to be an attention hungry tramp, but inside she is a girl with a lack of company.
Characters create depth in the plot. They tone and define it and provide readers a screen to view unraveling events of a story. In addition, they lure the reader into feeling what they feel and seeing what they see. The concept of character is what connects us to the novel. Readers travel into a book through the element called character. A story wouldn't be a story without this queen like figure.