🧿
Character: George
Steinbeck’s word choice of
‘restless’ and ‘sharp’ almost
Steinbeck immediately uses his
‘Restless eyes and portrays George as having the
facial features to define his
sharp strong features as that of a fox. This
character as a cunning,
features.’ overall aids with his depiction as
calculating character.
a cunning and calculating
character.
Steinbeck uses the imperative
‘I want you to ‘I want you to’ which connotes
come right here an’ authority. This almost reflects
hide in the brush’ the power that he has over
Lennie throughout the novel.
Steinbeck’s word choice of
‘we’ is a collective pronoun
which signifies a sense of
community and brotherhood
between George and Lenny.
‘We’re gonna have
a little house’
’Little’ signifies how George
has a dream of owning land but
it is still very modest, signifying
how difficult the American
dream is in the first place.
Character: George 1
In this extract, George is
almost talking to himself with
the repetition of ‘I’.
He is almost trying to convince
himself that he would have a
‘If I was alone I
better life without Lennie. But
could live so easy.’
he deep down knows that his
life would be lonelier and
emptier without Lennie.
This highlights his internal
conflict throughout the novel.
George mini essay
‘Of Mice and Men’ is a novella which contains many captivating characters.
The character that I have chose is George, a typical itinerant worker during
the Great Depression of the 1930s in America. Initially in the novel, he is
portrayed as a smart, serious and cautious character. However, as the
narrative progresses, George’s character of kindness and loyalty is exposed
to the reader.
Steinbeck quickly captures his character in the opening lines of the novella.
George is illustrated as having ‘Restless eyes and sharp strong features.’
Here, Steinbeck employs George’s facial features to capture his personality.
The ‘sharp’ and ‘strong’ features almost resembles to that of a fox,
contributing to his portrayal as a cunning, calculating character. Similarly
these traits are also seen in ‘I want you to come right here an’ hide in the
brush’. In this quote, George instructs his friend, Lennie to hide in a bush if
he meets any potential trouble. The use of the imperative in this line
highlight’s George’s authority over Lennie. This forces the reader to almost
see George as a stern, ‘parent’ like figure, further contributing to his
portrayal as a serious character.
Later on in the novel, we are exposed to George’s caring and merciful
character. In the scene when ‘He pulled the trigger’ and George kills Lennie,
it is not because of spite, but of mercy and compassion. George realises
that if he did not kill Lennie himself he would be lynched by Curley and the
other men. Therefore when George kills Lennie in the final scenes of the
novella, it shows not just of his caring and merciful character but of his
loyalty to Lennie by saving him from the cruelty of society.
Character: George 2
Character descriptions
Who is the protagonist and what do they want
George is the protagonist.
He wants to achieve the American Dream and own a ranch.
Personality description:
Quote: ‘I want you to come right here an’ hide in the brush’
Shrewd: ‘I want you’: in the imperative, shows George’s authority as
well as being acute in perception.
Quote: ‘Restless eyes and sharp strong features.’
Cunning: Steinbeck almost describes his features as that of a fox,
embodying his cunning and calculating character.
Quote: ‘We’re gonna have a little house’
Modesty: the word ‘little’ indicates that eve George’s biggest dreams
of owning land is quiet and unassuming, further contributing to his
portrayal as a modest character.
Obstacles/challenges:
The sole challenge that George faces is Lennie.
Throughout the novel, George is conflicted about Lennie and how he
has a hindrance to George’s life.
This is seen through ‘If I was alone I could live so easy.’
Here, the repetition of ‘I’ shows that George is almost speaking to
himself.
He is almost trying to convince himself that he would have a better
life without Lennie. But he deep down knows that his life would be
lonelier and emptier without Lennie.
This highlights his internal conflict.
Character development:
Initially, George was hopeful of owning land and running his own
ranch.
Character: George 3
His dream of doing so was modest but it was still existent.
He initially believe that he would do better without Lennie, seeing
him as hindrance and a roadblock to his dreams.
However, as the narrative progresses and George is exposed to
different characters such as Crooks, he slowly realises the futility of
his dream.
Ultimately in the final scene when he kills Lennie, he kills his dreams
of owning a ranch and realises it was an impossible mission.
Character: George 4
