WHO'S WHO
GET TO THE POINT
SYMBIOSIS
DEFENSE MECHANISMS
SYMBOLICALLY SPEAKING
100

He loves rabbits. Maybe a little too much.

Lennie

100

He found the body of Curley's wife

Candy

100

A mosquito and a human.

Parasitic

100

When Candy won't believe their dream is now impossible.

Denial

100

This character doesn't get a name of their own, representing their position as a possession.

Curley's wife

200

He lost his arm in an accident and plans to use his pension to buy a farm with George and Lennie

Candy

200

He's the one who really stole Carlson's gun.

George

200

A clown fish and sea anemone. 

Mutualistic

200

When Curley punches Lennie because he's insecure about his wife's fidelity.

Acting out or displacement

200

Slim, Curley, and Crooks not having a real name represents THIS.

Lack of humanity, lack of identity

300

She gave Lennie mice and [his memory of her] scolds him for killing someone. 

Aunt Clara

300

Curley's wife invites Lennie to do THIS, leading to her death.

Pet her hair

300

Water buffalo and birds.

Mutualistic 

300

When Crooks tells Candy to forget his offer to join the farm - that he didn't really mean it.

Undoing

300

Candy wishing he had shot his own dog foreshadows THIS.

George shooting Lennie

400

He lives in the barn because he is excluded from the bunkhouse.

Crooks

400

Where George and Lennie were employed BEFORE, foreshadowing Lennie's inability to stay out of trouble.

Weed

400

Candy's relationship with George.

Mutualistic

400

When Curley tries to make up for his small size by being extra tough and aggressive.

Compensation

400

This animal embodies Lennie's dream for a better life.

Rabbits

500

He owns a gun and shoots Candy's dog

Carlson

500

Lennie imagines these two chastising him after he kills Curley's wife 

A rabbit and his Aunt Clara

500

The Hollywood guy's relationship with Curley's wife.

Parasitic

500

When Candy curls up in a fetal position after his dog dies.

Regression

500

The lack of THIS to put on Lennie's beans is an early foreshadowing of George's feeling of powerlessness as he tries to care for Lennie.

Ketchup

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