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The minor characters (characters except George and Lennie) highlight the themes of the story (the theme of barriers (freedom and confinement) and the theme of dreams) by creating tension and foreshadowing.

Here is an brief example of how minor characters highlight the theme of barriers:

Crooks and Curley's wife highlight the theme of barriers. Crooks is born black, so he faces discrimination and cannot have the same freedom as other characters even though he is knowledgeable. The recurring symbol of chain and harness emphasizes this fact, suggesting that he is just like a horse being controlled by a harness (which represents societal norms and limitations). For Curley's wife, she is trapped in her marriage as she doesn't like Curley, as shown by her confessions to Lennie. However, she cannot leave the ranch as women at that time were dependent on men.

Are there any more such examples (I know Candy can also highlight this theme as he is disabled and "crippled". Is there any way I can explore this in depth? Thank you!

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  • Hello and welcome to Literature Stack Exchange. Your question as written is opinion-based: whether someone thinks this is a good topic is subjective. It's also not clear exactly what you're asking. Are you asking us to write an essay showing how the minor characters highlight the themes by creating tension and foreshadowing? That sounds like you're asking us to write your essay for you.
    – verbose
    Commented Apr 5 at 7:46
  • No, was just asking in what ways I could change my thesis to make it more specific/ less common
    – black star
    Commented Apr 5 at 7:48
  • Sadly, we also do not provide writing advice. We discuss literature, so we are happy to discuss ideas you have about the book (and provide our own ideas in response), but how to structure your essay is not something we can help with.
    – verbose
    Commented Apr 5 at 7:53
  • Edited. Maybe I can move this question to writing stack exchange?
    – black star
    Commented Apr 5 at 8:04
  • I'm not sure Writing SE will help. The problem is that this question lacks focus: SE sites generally are after specific questions that have specific answers, whereas "how to explore" ... "minor characters" is casting the net very wide on two fronts. A question on, say, "how does Curly's Wife change the dynamic of the men in the work team", is more the fit we need.
    – Matt Thrower ♦
    Commented Apr 5 at 8:15

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