Tortilla Flat | Teaching Key Figures

Character Descriptions

This section provides a short description of all the major characters in the book. This can be printed out as a study guide for students, used as a "key" for leading a class discussion, or you can jump to the quiz/homework section to find worksheets that incorporate these descriptions into a variety of question formats.

Characters

Danny - The novel's protagonist, he is a bowlegged, twenty-five-year-old paisano from the Tortilla Flat area of Monterey, California, at the time the US enters World War I.

Pilon - He is invited to rent for fifteen dollars a month one of the two houses his friend inherits. Neither expects the rent to be paid.

Jesus Maria Corcoran - The son of a rich, respected prizefighter, he is a red-bearded, humanitarian with a grasshopper brain, an aficionado of wine and women and an opportunistic thief.

The Pirate - A huge man with a...
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