George- Of mice and men

George- Of mice and men

1. Appearance: George is "small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features."

   • This suggests that George may be unhappy because of his 'restless eyes', but also that he's intelligent and has a strong personality.

2. He looks after Lennie, and is responsible for him.

   • He therefore feels responsible to shoot Lennie, even though its hard, because its better for him to do it. This can be seen as heroic of George, even though its murder.
     • Slim: "That ain't no good, George." George: "I know, I know."

3. George is very level- headed, and has his life in control. We can see this because he likes to keep healthy and is clean-living.

   • The part of his life which is out of control is Lennie.
   • "what the hell kind of bed you giving us, anyways. We don't want no pant rabbits."

4. George is caring, but he is also fearful of being lonely.

   • " 'I ain't got no people,' George said, 'I seen the guys that go round the ranches on their own. That ain't no good. They don't have no fun. After a long time they get mean.' "
   • But it appears as though George shouldn't be scared of this. The only people in the book who are truly happy have no relationships with other people. E.g. Slim, The Boss, Carlson.

5. George is a good judge of character.

   • " You keep away from Curley, Lennie."

6. George is also very modest.

   • "I ain't nothing to scream about, but Lennie there can put up more grain alone than most pairs can."
     • This also shows George's love for Lennie, even though at the beginning of the book, he seemed mean towards him.

7. George represents a lot of men in that time, who, like him, wanted to have something of their own. Having that dream made Georges work bearable, but when Lennie died, the dream died as well.

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