Slim
Slim is described as having a ‘hatchet face’ which is
‘ageless.’ It describes his hands as ‘large and lean’ and ‘delicate.’ The words
that are used to describe him are all positive and have connotations with good
things. This means that right from the beginning of being introduced to Slim,
you know that he is going to be a character that you like and is good. Most of
the words that are used give an instant air of authority, and this tells the
reader that Slim is in charge of the ranch, even when we know that he really
isn’t. The words also have religious connotations, and therefore suggest that
Slim is seen as almost a God-like figure to the other men. The word ‘thought’
is repeated a few times in the description, which suggests that Slim is more intelligent
than the average ranch worker. ‘He smiled kindly’ shows his personality from
the offset. You know from the first introduction that he is going to be good to
Lennie and George, and different from all of the other men on the ranch.
His relationships with the other characters are pretty much
all positive. He likes and gets on well with George, especially when George
trusts him enough to tell him the story about what happened in Weed with
Lennie. I think that Slim sees himself in George, as George is intelligent and
has been in charge of Lennie for a long time, as George has with the other
ranch workers. George respects Slim, and trusts him from the beginning. Slim
likes Lennie, because Lennie is a good worker and never does anything to annoy
Slim. Lennie loves Slim, because Slim is always kind to him whereas others
haven’t been most of the time. Slim doesn’t like Curley, but seems to put up
with him. He doesn’t try to hide the fact that he doesn’t agree with Curley’s
way of instilling terror into the other men, but doesn’t start fights with him
like most of the others. Curley, though he dislikes Slim (mainly because he has
more authority than Curley,) clearly respects Slim’s word like all of the other
workers. For example, when Slim tells Curley to pretend that he got his hand
caught in a machine, Curley listens. This is because he recognises Slim as ‘prince
of the ranch.’ Slim is not as horrible about Curley’s wife as the others are.
In fact, he seems to almost pity her. When she comes into the ranch, whereas
most other workers ignore her, Slim jokes around with her and even calls her
‘good-looking.’ Curley’s wife most likely appreciates this, and probably
respects Slim even more for it, as Slim is the only person that talks to her.
One of the key themes that is explored through Slim is
power. Slim is a clearly powerful person right from the moment that he is
introduced, and keeps up the position of authority all of the way through the
novella. Most of the men ask Slim for advice in difficult situations. For
example, it is Slim’s word that secures the death of Candy’s dog, because Candy
knows that Slim is fair and would always do the kindest thing. The power that
he has can especially be seen in the line ‘prince of the ranch,’ which shows
that Slim is in the highest possible authority spot he could be in, given the
fact that he is still just an ordinary ranch worker. Slim has many power
struggles, especially against Curley, as Curley thinks that he should be more
powerful but is forced to bow down to Slim instead.
Another key theme is loneliness. Slim is one of the only
characters to identify that it is a lonely life as a ranch worker. This is seen
when he shows that he approves of the fact that Lennie and George travel around
together, and makes the point that it ‘seems like the whole god damn world is
scared of each other.’ This is different to the other men, who think that
travelling in pairs is strange and don’t think that there is anything wrong
with being alone.
A final key theme is discrimination. Slim is the least
discriminative character, as he doesn’t have a bad word to say about anyone-
even those that everyone else takes pleasure in being prejudiced against. For
example, he sticks up for Lennie on more than one occasion. He also talks to
Curley’s wife when nobody else will and doesn’t say a single thing against
anyone (except perhaps Curley) throughout the whole novella. This shows why he
is described as being ‘prince of the ranch,’ as he has earned his respect from
all of his peers by being kind to everyone, even those whom it was deemed
socially acceptable to discriminate against.
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