Character Sketch: Slim

A story would lack inspiration would it not be for a leader. Someone whom fellow members of the same society or organization looked up to. In the book Of Mice and Men the character Slim captures this role with honor. Slim is the ranch's mule driver, and is known as the "prince" of the farm. While others in the story lack purpose, organization and focus, Slim is a firm yet steady and peaceful character. Others in the ranch look to him for guidance. The first example of this was when Candy, a fellow ranch-hand was having trouble deciding whether or not to let his impaired dog live or die. Although others in the ranch offer their advice, the thoroughly sincere advice from Slim to allow his dog to be killed was the only advice seriously considered and eventually followed.
Slim goes on to support the friendship between George and Lennie throughout the story, through the many trials the two friends encounter. "He's a nice fella," said Slim. "Guy don't need no sense to be a nice fella. Seems to me sometimes it jus' works the other way around. Take a real smart guy and he ain't hardly ever a nice fella"(45). When observing his traits, Slim resembles August from the book The Secret Life of Bees in the way that she was looked at as the Queen bee and stronghold in the story. She, like Slim was the character that everyone respected, looked up to and could trust and confide in. This particular type of character is vital to a meaningful story and Slim fulfilled his role as leader in a refreshing and ultimately tranquil way.

Bibliography

Of Mice and Men- John Steinbeck - Covici-Friede - New York - 1937
http://www.steinbeck.org/bio.html
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1962/steinbeck-bio.html
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/johnstei.htm

Character Sketch: Candy

One of the main characters of the story, Candy, is an elderly man who works as the swamper on the ranch, where he is constantly harrassed by his co-workers for his lack of one of his hands and his ownership of an equally old dog. Candy faces a dilemma when one of the ranch hands convinces him that taking the life of his dog would be better for the dog, since it was supposedly suffering. The loss of his dog leaves Candy vulnerable and made him want to get off the ranch. When Candy overhears George discussing his dream ranch, he offers to invest in the purchase of the land, and to leave all of his belongings to George when he dies. His hopes are crushed when, after Lennie has killed Curley's wife, George admits that there really was no ranch.

"I got hurt four years ago. They'll can me purty soon. Jus' as soon as I can't swamp out no bunk houses they'll put me on the county."(p.66)