The Character of George in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men Essay

     Using the two main characters of the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck shows that in life, responsibility must be taken in moderation. George takes on the challenge of caring for Lennie. In doing this, George loses a job in weed and is often short-changed when it comes to food and other amenities. Eventually, George realizes where he could be without Lennie and kills Lennie to free himself of the responsibly. Lennie, in a life where he has always been protected by loved ones, looks for responsibility in dependent pets. Each time he is given a chance with an animal, he always cares for it with gentile love. Often times, Lennie’s strength would be too much for the animal and they would fall under his powerful hands. In the end, both men see that they were not capable of conquering the tasks at hand. George

Even though George sometimes says how much better his life would be without Lennie, he will always protect Lennie. George is devoted to watching out for Lennie. He is always telling Lennie not to talk because that will probably lead to trouble. If Lennie gets in trouble that will block the both of them from living their dream. So George is inspired to keep Lennie out of trouble.

I could also notice when I was reading through the first chapter that George has a sense of authority over Lennie, “you gonna get that wood”. This is like a parent telling a child to do his chores. On some occasions though George shows a bit of hatred towards Lennie, he thinks of what he could have if Lennie wasn’t around and contrasts that with George.

Although George was always Lennie’s paternal/fraternal figure, Lennie’s immense size would protect George physically, from harm that could befall him. At the end of the novel it turned into where George had to protect Lennie from being shot by Curley – which he did in the way that he killed Lennie himself – as if it were a mercy killing. “You hadda, George. I sear you hadda.” If George didn’t want his friend to suffer he had to protect him and his dignity by shooting Lennie himself – this showed tremendous growth in it’s own way.

He can rarely think for himself and make his own decision. “I want you to stay with me, Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebody’d shoot you for a coyote if you were by yourself” (Steinbeck, p. 14). George does not trust lennie to live by himself. He thinks Lennie would not be able to hold his own and get a job. George is sympathetic towards lennie so he lets lennie stay with him. Lennie Would make a mistake like touching a girl for too long and hurting her which would cause everyone to run after him and he could not do that without George. This makes us sympathetic toward george because he makes bad decisions and gets himself into a lot of

George the smaller leader and Lennie the mentally challenged friend. They travel around looking for jobs. They get a job at a farm when Lennie accidentally kills curley's wife. Which makes George do the unthinkable and kill his friend. This all takes place in California during the dust bowl. George is the protagonist in the book of mice and men by John Steinbeck. Lennie is the antagonist in the novella.

The novel written by John Steinbeck called Of Mice and Men is about how two men who are migrant farm workers. Their names are George and Lennie. They are good friends and George takes care of Lennie because he is very incapable of taking her of himself. This novel has many different characters. They are all different in their own ways and all have their own archetype for the kind of characters that they are. The character George has The Hero archetype. One characteristic of this archetype is that they are trying to achieve a certain goal throughout the novel and must overcome obstacles throughout the way. This fits Georges character very well because throughout the entire book he is trying to achieve the goal of owning his own farm and he calls it the dream. The novel Of Mice and Men that was written by John Steinbeck, George is the protagonist and has the archetype of the hero.

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 problem with Lennie was that he was mentally disabled, back in the 1930's people did not understand things like that, and had no clue about disabled people. Lennie was sweet and loved thing that were soft. Lennie would put himself in very dangerous situations and with disability he lacked the capacity to control himself physically. Lennie did not understand how strong he was and they damage he would do until after the fact. He also shares the dream of having the small farm and tending to his small rabbit hutch. Since Lennie is mentally disabled he depends on George for almost everything. Lennie is like a small child that has to a have a parent nearby always or he will get into

At this point in the novel, we have heard George mention twice that his life would be improved without Lennie. However, George still seems to feel a need to look out for Lennie. That said, he protects Lennie from conflict by explaining to everyone they meet that he is just a “big kid”.

First, before heading out to the ranch Lennie was about to run out of George's site but George told him “No, you stay with me. Your Aunt Clara wouldn't like you're running off by yourself.” (Steinbeck 13). This quote demonstrates a great relationship because it shows how George is looking out for Lennie and making sure that he did the right thing by staying back. Once again George shows the qualities of a good relationship is shown once again in the novel when George was about to get a job he demanded to Lennie and said “You ain’t gonna say a word. “You jus’ stand there and don't say nothing. If he finds out what a crazy bastard you are, we won't get no job.” (13). The quote from the Novel shows more of how George and Lennie realize that their relationship is held up by being able to make good decisions and listen to each other.Lastly George is making sure that he is sticking with him and not going off on his own because he knows that is the best thing for Lennie and he knows that Aunt Clara wants Lennie to be safe as well. “George said, I want you to stay with me, Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebody'd shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself. No, you stay with me. Your Aunt Clara wouldn’t like you running off” (13).George is determined to always protect and insure that he will never be in a bad

George takes care of Lennie and Lennie is there for George even when George doesn't necessarily want him to be. George knows he could have a better life without Lennie but he can't leave him because he's afraid something will happen to him if he does. Throughout the story however, George’s feelings for Lennie show because he constantly is looking out for him, as shown when he says “If there's any fightin’, Lennie, you keep out of it” (92). Later on, George realizes towards the end of the story that Lennie is what makes him special, showing that he understands he needs him in order to be happy. Even in the end when George shoots him, its to protect Lennie from any pain that would be caused by the other men who are after him, but he is barely able to do it “George raised the gun and his hand shook, and he dropped his hand to the ground again”(146). George’s dream ends with him protecting his best friend until the end, even if he knows it will end his happiness, because it's the right thing to do in the hard situation he

George was the most important character in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck; if he was not in the book Lennie would not have had anyone to guide him in the right direction. George also changed the most throughout the duration of the book. He went from a determined working man, whose only worries were caring for Lennie and finding a job, to a man whose end goal was completing his dream of living on a small farm with Lennie and Candy, owning rabbits and other livestock so they could “.. live off the fatta the lan’” (Steinbeck 14)

Lennie’s is described as being soft and not very tough (6).And is described by slim as a very attentive and straight forward guy as “He ain’t mean, I can tell a mean guy a mile off”(42) And witch these by this quote of the book “George gonna wish he was alone an’ not have me botherin’ him’’ (100). This truly confirms lennies inner guilt and turmoil about bothering George and holding him back. And because of these problems with his confidence and his constant insecurities when it comes to his friendship with george and

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.