Lefty Costello is an absent character. He is the central symbol in the play both within the text and for the struggling workers. He is their chosen leader, their elected chairman. When the men first note Lefty’s absence, Fatt says smugly that perhaps Lefty ran out on them. But Joe insists that Lefty would never run, describing him as having “more guts than a slaughterhouse” (7). Until the last moments of the play, Lefty’s whereabouts are a mystery. Undoubtedly, the motivation behind Lefty’s execution was to cut the movement off at the head, leaving the potential strikers scrambling and leaderless. But as the union members wait for him, some of them are forced to take up leadership slack. Others show their own strength and character through flashbacks. Right before the crowd is informed that Lefty’s body has been found, Agate pushes them to stop waiting for Lefty. Any movement that relies on a central figure to survive is doomed to fall apart because even the most charismatic of leaders are only human. Therefore, Lefty becomes a martyr for their cause, galvanizing the men to call for a strike.

Lefty’s name, which is most commonly used as a nickname for a left-handed person, is in this case unsubtly allegorical.