Throughout Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck makes his characters complex and makes their actions hard to understand. For example, throughout some points of the book George is grouchy, at other points of the book George is courteous. In Of Mice and Men, George comes off as a callous person. One example that proves this is when George and Lennie talk about their past job. George explained that they got fired because Lennie was holding on to a woman’s dress. The reasoning that Lennie gave for that was that it seemed soft like mice. George started to get riled up as they were talking and ended up saying, “ ‘I wisht I could put you in a cage with about a million mice an’ let you have fun’ ” (11). This quote demonstrates that George gets annoyed with Lennie often. Usually his annoyance comes from a nice conversation, other times George will get annoyed because Lennie forgets everything. After George gets annoyed he lashes out at …show more content…
Another good piece of evidence that proves that George is a bad-tempered person occurs when George and Lennie arrive at their new job. George gives Lennie one rule, the rule is not to talk to the boss in their interview. Since Lennie forgets everything in general, he forgets about this and talks to the boss. Being the person he is, George gets furious and says, “Yeah, you forgot. You always forget, an’ I got to talk you out of it.” He sat down heavily on the bunk. “Now he’s got his eye on us. Now we got to be careful and not make no slips. You keep your big flapper shut after this.” He fell morosely silent.” (Steinbeck, 23). As a result the reader learns that to George it doesn't matter the situation that the person George is “bullying” is in, George is always going to be mean to them. Although George does have his faults he also has a good side. He is a kind and courteous person. This can first be seen when Lennie asks for ketchup while he and George are basically in the middle of nowhere going to the ranch
2. George is a small and thin man with sharp features (Steinbeck 2). He has a quick temper and a wit to match. His temper is shown early in the book on page 4 when he gets mad at Lennie for always forgetting what he’s told him. George plays the role as the caregiver in his relationship with Lennie. A conflict
Now you listen and this time you got to remember so we don’t get in no trouble.” (5) Here George is presenting to us that he cares about Lennie’s well-being, he is taking initiative to make sure that Lennie keeps himself out of trouble and that Lennie is safe. Although he is very harsh on Lennie deep down inside he just wants the best for him. These are ways that George shows act of caring. Another quote that exhibits to us that George is caring is when he utters, “He’s my... cousin.
Throughout the novel, George showed qualities of leadership, interpersonal and intrapersonal skills, sense of fraternity, sense of respect for others, and sense of human dignity. These character traits of empathy to keep himself and Lennie alive. Lennie had a mental disability that everyone overlooked, he was very tall and broad, and did not realize his actions or strength. George felt guilt over Curley’s wife death and was unsure if the law would find
Lennie is definitely not the brightest so, when others see George around him they start to think that George might not be as bright as everyone thought. George talks about how his life is not good and wishes he was alone,George states “I wisht I could put you in a cage with about a million mice an let you have fun” (11). George never gets the chance to have fun because he is always protecting Lennie. Others might think George is not bright because most people think that if you are going to hang out around Lennie then you are pretty dumb yourself. George feels attacked because there is nothing that he can really do about taking Lennie into his own hands and just learns to deal with whatever harsh comments come his
In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck characterizes George as an important character that affects the characters around him through the use of direct and indirect characterization. When Steinbeck reveals that George “was small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp, strong features,” he describes George with rich details that visually represents his physical looks and the contrast to his best friend, Lennie, which directly characterizes George as a round character (2). In addition, Steinbeck indirectly characterizes George as an uneducated man through the fact that George and Lennie say words like “ain’t” and “di’n’t,” the use of low-level diction, and the dialect language in the novella. Throughout the novella, even though George encounters
Even from the very start of John Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men, the uniqueness of George, as a character, is already noticeable. He is described as "small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp strong features" and has an obvious dominance over the relationship between Lennie and himself. This lets the reader know from a very early stage in the book that George is different, and probably the essential character. George's character seems to be used by Steinbeck to reflect the major themes of the novel: loneliness, prejudice, the importance of companionship, the danger of devoted companionships, and the harshness of Californian ranch life.
George’s tone is accusatory which shows that he is astute. He then continues to bombard Lennie with questions, which gives Lennie the chance to demonstrate another type of power – his cunning. He attempts to deceive George.
One very large development in George is in the way he interacted with Lennie. He had once admitted to Slim that he has “beat the hell out of him.” Of course, now that they travel together George and Lennie get along with much more ease. One thing though, he still had a very short fuse when it came to Lennie. He would yell at him for forgetting or acting
George has anger issues; Of Mice and Men would have been a very boring story if not for George's anger issues. There were lots of scenarios where George tried
However strong he was portrayed, George never got cocky because he knew his boundaries, especially when it came to Lennie. He was very aware of the fact that he could not control Lennie. “Leggo his hand Lennie leggo. Slim, come help me while the guy got any hand left.”(Pg. 64) He never got conceited because George always knew there could be someone bigger, stronger or tougher than him. One thing George had in his image that he was proud of was not being part of Lennie’s family. “Well, that was a lie. An’ I’m damn glad it was. If I was a relative of yours I’d shoot myself.”(Pg. 24) I think even though George said he would shoot himself if he had been part of Lennie’s family, George set up a relationship with Lennie that made him seem like part of the family. George being the father, and Lennie,
In the film Of Mice and Men, directed by Gary Sinise, characterization of George is accurately depicted through his actions acted out. In the scene where Lennie and George are surrounding the fire as they happily speak of their united vision for the future he abruptly stops, frowns and stands up. He then tells Lennie, if ever in trouble, to hide in the bushes and wait for him. To ensure his order is followed he tells Lennie that if not done, Lennie wouldn’t be able to tend the rabbits--something George knows Lennie greatly values. In the ending scene when George finds Lennie and kills him, he repeats the dream they both long of having as he tells Lennie to face the trees and shoots. Even when put through this horrible scenario, George doesn't
In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the most complex character that occurs in the book is George Milton. George Milton is the protagonist in the story and is quick tempered when dealing with Lennie. He is like a father figure for massive but slow-processed Lennie. George is the most complex character in Of Mice and Men due to the conflicts of Lennie getting into a fight with Curley, George having to deal with Lennie killing Curley's wife, and George always having to look out for Lennie even though he would be better off alone.
The novel Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck is set in America in the 1930’s and it describes the lives of migrant farmers as they go from farm to farm looking for jobs. It also shows the loneliness of the characters and the hard work that they put in. The main characters of the book are Lennie, a man-child, and George, a small man but very powerful character that takes care of Lennie in their journey. Also when they get to the farm they meet the bosses wife who is very lonely and looks for company in the workers. Steinbeck uses characterization to bring his characters to life using various techniques.
He would yell at Lennie and tell him if he didnt have him he could go and do as he pleased. When in reality George did not want these things. He was greatful to have a friend in Lennie, so he would not have to be alone. With Lennie's simple mind, he could not comprehend what George was talking about most of the time. He believed that George got upset over simple things such as ketchup. He too was very thankful to have George to go along with. Although he did not understand the complexity of things sometimes, he knew that he had a true friend who he trusted wouldnt leave him.
George’s good nature can be seen through the way he takes Lennie under his wing. For George, there is no benefits that come from taking care of Lennie, he just does it out of the goodness in his heart. An example of this can be seen when George helped Lennie escape out of the town of Weed, in which Lennie had been accused of rape for clutching onto a girl’s dress. Unlike Lennie, George does not have any mental disability and can perfectly function by himself. This is the aspect that makes him such a good person, because taking care of Lennie is just like dragging around a ball and chain. George could be living a much better life on his own without Lennie. To prove this, George even says it himself when talking to Lennie: “God you’re a lot of trouble. I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail. I could live so easy and maybe have a girl” (OM&M 7). Despite these words, George still takes care of Lennie because George knows that without his guidance, Lennie would be left to be taken advantage of out in the dangerous world. From George’s devotion to Lennie, it is shown that one who is good will guide others, even if it means sacrificing something he could have