George (Of Mice And Men)
...eliness. George in Of Mice and Men is frequently playing "solitaire" (i.e. a card game for one person). However, George is not a pathetic character. He has a will and he exercises it to make two critical decisions at the end of the novel: To kill Lennie (and thus the dream) To lie about it. It is Lennie who has kept the dream so powerfully alive for George. George tells Candy: "he (Lennie) usta like to hear about it so much. I got to thinking maybe we would." George looks after Lennie, speaks for Lennie and is always conscious of trying to save him from his overwhelming strength. Can you think of 5 examples from the story which illustrate George's caring for Lennie? Before looking at the answers below, jot your own ideas down in your notebook. There are many examples which you may have chosen. Here are a few: When Lennie is terrified and bewildered by the boss's questions, George calmly takes control. "Oh! I ain’t saying he's bright. He ain’t. But I say he's a God damn good worker. He can put up a four-hundred-pound bale." When Lennie and George hear about the pups that have been born, George promises Lennie that he will ask Slim if he (Lennie) may have one. George instantly realises the threat that Curley represents, and he tells Candy (the swamper) after the initial unpleasantness between Curley and Lennie/George: "this Curley better not make no mistakes about Lennie. Lennie ain’t handy, but this Curley punk is gonna get hurt if he messes around with Lennie". and "Well, he (Curley) better watch out for Lennie. Lennie ain’t no fighter, but Lennie’s strong and quick and Lennie don't know no rules". George immediately identifies Curley’s wife as "a tramp" and a troublemaker. He urges Lennie: "… you keep away from her, cause she's a rat-trap if I ever seen one." George is also extremely sensitive and knows when he has been "mean" to Lennie. After shouting at Lennie for what Lennie did in Weed, which forced them to run away, George's anger evaporates and he looks "ashamedly" at the flames. Just before he kills Lennie, George's suffering and pain are keenly felt. "He raised...