Soobin Lee and Eun Jeong Youk
Characters presented at
outsiders
Curley’s wife
Lennie
Crooks
Candy
Click on one of the
characters to read
their analysis 
Curley’s Wife
• Women are treated with contempt
throughout the course of the novel.
Curley’s wife is the only female in the
ranch - Her marriage with Curley only
makes the situation worse. Curley cares
very little for her, and is more interested
in sexual behaviors. She also often talks
about her American Dreams.
• “glove full of vaseline”
• “He says he was gonna put me in the
movies. Says I was a natural”
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Curley’s Wife
•
The men in the ranch tend to avoid Curley’s wife
because of her husband’s status and
possessiveness. They also believe Curley’s wife is a
troublemaker, who brings misfortune to men.
• “Seems like they ain’t none of them cares
how I gotta live”
• “…I seen ‘em poison before, but I never seen
no piece of jail bait worse than her.
• “…cause she’s a rattrap if I ever see one.”
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Curley’s Wife
• Curley’s wife loneliness has changed her
demeanor towards others. Making her to become
insecure and promiscuous. she’s first seen as a
flirt; “tramp” or “tart” to every men she
encounters. This is present with her overdone
makeup and her flirtatious actions.
• “She had full rouged lips and wide spaced eyes
heavily made up.”
• “She put her hands behind her back and leaned
against the door frame so that her body was
thrown forward.”
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Lennie
• Lennie’s lack of intelligence causes all
the other men in the ranch to look down
at him. They treat him as an imbecile and
refuses to let him join to any of their
outings.
• “Everybody went into town. George says I
gotta stay here an not get in no trouble.”
• “… he get’s in trouble alla time because
he’s so God damn dumb”
• “talkin to …a dumdum”
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Lennie
• However Lennie is too dim to
understand his loneliness. Instead he
seems to put himself in a position as an
outsider, who lives in their own world
where everything evolves around
whether something pleases George or
not.
“An live off the fatta and the lan…about the
rabbits…the rain in the winter…and the
stove…- Lennie’s American Dream.
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Crooks
• Steinbeck differentiates Crooks to other ranch
workers through the level of intelligence.
“…a tattered dictionary and a mauled copy of the
California civil code for 1905.”
The detailed description of the book suggests that he
isn’t interested in the social spectrum. (Dislikes
communication and interaction with others)
• Steinbeck explores the issue of racial
discrimination in the novel to present Crooks as an
outsider.
“…keep your place then Nigger. I could get you
strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.”
(Curley’s wife)
The use of the word ‘Nigger’ creates a sense of
power and segregation which conveys the low social
status Crooks has in the ranch.
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Candy
• Candy is portrayed as an old, disabled man.
“…out of the sleeve came a round stick-like wrist,
but no hand”
(Candy lost his right hand from an accident)
Candy’s disability caused the boss to find him less
useful than before. This illustrates Candy as an
outsider by contrasting his weakness to the other
characters like Slim. (Slim- “…prince of the
ranch…”)
• Candy’s dog’s death foreshadows his own fate
of being an outsider.
“…I wisht somebody’d shoot me if I got old an’ a
cripple” (Slim)
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This suggests the cruel natural law of getting rid
of the weak. Carlson kills Candy’s dog because it
was old and weak. –Candy might no longer be
welcome at the ranch as he is old, disabled with
a demeaning job.