Character Analysis
Tortilla Flat is a portrait not only of Danny and his friends, but also of a community. It's all about the paisanos who live in Tortilla Flat and how they go about their daily lives. Most of these characters don't make too big of a splash in the novel, but they're important because they each contribute a little brush-stroke to the overall portrait Steinbeck is painting of their town.
Here's the rundown:
- Mr. Torrelli: He's the grouchy Italian barkeeper who's constantly getting fooled by the friends. He kind of hates them and always wants to get the best of them, but he has trouble doing so because they're just too smart for him.
- Mrs. Torrelli: Mr. Torrelli's wife isn't as mean as her husband; in fact, she's a little too friendly with the friends (Danny in particular), which might be one reason that her husband hates them so much, if you catch our drift.
- Father Ramon: The town priest, Father Ramon, is a friendly character. He's sweet to the Pirate, laughing when his dogs break into the church, and he's also the one to come and give Danny his last rites before he dies.
- Tito Ralph: Tito Ralph is the chill jailer who always takes his prisoners out to Torrelli's for a drink—and makes it pretty easy for them to escape, considering how often he just up and passes out.
- Cornelia Ruiz: This lady is a firecracker who goes through men—her "husbands," as people call them—as fast as she goes through a loaf of bread. She's the main source of gossip for Tortilla Flat, and she's known as a violent but lovable neighbor.
- Mrs. Morales: Danny's neighbor, Mrs. Morales, unknowingly provides the friends with eggs and chickens from her yard. (Yep, the guys just steal from her.) When Danny is the owner of two houses, she has a little love affair with him. She loses interest when he loses his second house.
- Dolores Engracia "Sweets" Ramirez: Sweets is another woman who is interested in Danny after he becomes a landowner. They have their own romance, and Danny gives her a vacuum cleaner, which raises her level in the community by quite a bit—despite the fact that she's got no electricity and can't even use the thing.
- The Corporal: Okay, fine, the corporal isn't exactly a paisano. He's just passing through Tortilla Flat, up from Mexico, but he provides the friends with a different point of view about revenge and justice. He also gives us a little contrast, showing that the paisanos are their own breed, different from Mexicans.
- Tia Ignacia: Tia Ignacia only shows up in one chapter, when she gives Big Joe a drink and hopes that he'll take the hint and give her some loving in return. When he doesn't, she shows her violent side, but their fight turns into a muddy lovefest in the rain. Exciting, right?
- Teresina Cortez: Teresina is described as an irresponsible person who gets pregnant pretty much constantly and usually has no idea who the father is. We meet her during her ninth pregnancy, and by the end of the short chapter she's got the tenth baby on the way, courtesy of one of the friends (she doesn't know which).
- The vieja: In contrast to Teresina, her mother, the vieja, is responsible for all her millions of grandchildren. She's a bitter lady, getting mad at the Virgin Mary for not taking care of the kids, but even so, she just keeps going, feeding and bathing those babies.