Pepé is the protagonist of the story and a dynamic character, although his change from boy to man is unconventional, developing themes of The Difficulty of Growing Up and Masculinity, Violence, and Personhood. At the beginning of the story, laziness is his primary characteristic. He is never shown working on the farm or providing for the family. The only thing Steinbeck shows Pepé doing before Mama Torres sends him to the store is playing with the knife he inherited from his father. This equips him with the ability to do violence but not with the skills that might have helped him survive the journey he must take after rashly and perhaps inadvertently killing a man.

After this killing, the protagonist’s laziness is replaced with what appears to be manly determination. Steinbeck describes his eyes as “sharp and bright and purposeful” (33), and his face at the beginning of his journey is “stern, relentless, and manly” (39). After he is injured, however, things change. Steinbeck no longer describes Pepé’s face—his most human feature—but instead focuses on his body as a whole and its deterioration. This physical decline coincides with Pepé shedding layers of assumed manhood—his hat, rifle, etc.