George (OMAM)

Question 1

What are some quotes about George’s appearance?

Answer 1

“restless eyes”

“sharp”

Question 1

What is the significance of the quotes about George’s appearance?

Answer 1

“restless eyes”, “sharp” - George is constantly monitoring his surroundings on behalf of Lennie, wary, implies a lack of sleep from travelling as an itinerant worker, sharp also highlights his callous nature

Question 2

What quotes describe George’s life without Lennie?

Answer 2

“I could live so easy”

“take my fifty bucks”

“stay in a cathouse”

Question 3

What is the significance of the quotes about George’s life without Lennie?

Answer 3

“I could live so easy” - Lennie is a burden upon George’s life, he has to devote almost all of his time into managing Lennie

“take my fifty bucks” - Possessive, money that George would earn for himself, he only has to be responsible for himself, complete freedom over what he spends his money on

“stay in a cathouse” - Despite the financial freedom and independence George would have, he would live a shallow, pitiful existence without Lennie, reflects how many lower class workers in the 1930s lived a life of hopelessness and misery, where their only escape was through alcohol and lust

Question 4

What does George say to scold Lennie when he was not supposed to talk?

Answer 4

“leave your big flapper shut”

Question 5

What is the significance of George telling Lennie to not speak for himself?

Answer 5

“leave your big flapper shut” - Lennie is forbidden from speaking, George mirrors how society in 1930s America was dismissive and discriminatory of people with learning disabilities

at the same time it can be seen as George trying his best to ensure that they get the job, and Lennie’s disability would have impacted the likelihood that they received it, so George tried to prevent him from talking for a greater cause for the both of them

Question 6

How is George’s voice described when he is talking to Slim?

Answer 6

“tone of confession”

Question 7

What is the significance of George opening up to Slim?

Answer 7

George is usually lonely despite travelling with an other person, since he cannot sustain intellectual conversations with Lennie, due to his learning disability

Question 8

How did George feel when he took advantage of Lennie in the past?

Answer 8

“made me seem goddamn smart”

Question 9

What nearly happened to Lennie after George took advantage of him?

Answer 9

“damn near drowned”

Question 10

What is the significance of George’s anecdote about abusing Lennie in the past?

Answer 10

George is one of the only characters in the novel to appear to show some emotional development, even though it may have occurred in the past

He once took advantage of Lennie for his own amusement, but learned the moral lesson that preying upon the weak and vulnerable is immoral, as it almost caused him to lose his only company in a lonely society

This opposes the hostile atmosphere of society within 1930s America, where the most vulnerable groups in society were oppressed, targeted and preyed upon by those with greater power

Steinbeck is attempting to highlight the immorality and injustice of attacking the weakest in society

Question 11

How does George’s voice and body language show his desire to fulfil the dream?

Answer 11

“voice was growing warmer”

“raptly”, “entranced”

Question 12

What does George’s tone and body language reveal about how he feels about the dream?

Answer 12

“voice was growing warmer” - Despite his hardened exterior, George yearns for a day when he can fulfil the dream (the American dream of self-sufficiency and independence)

more importantly, he wants to live a fraternal life with Lennie, where they are free from the hatred and suffering that society surrounds them with, seen through the likes of Curley and his wife

“raptly”, “entranced” - shows how George is captivated by his own image, also indicates how it is unobtainable, and merely a dream that can be wondered at

Question 13

What happens to George’s dream?

Answer 13

The dream eventually dies at the end of the novel alongside Lennie

Question 13

What quote shows that George was skeptical about achieving the dream?

Answer 13

“I knowed we’d never do her”

Question 14

What does George’s understanding that the dream would never happen reveal about him and Lennie, and the nature of the dream itself?

Answer 14

Lennie’s childlike innocence had an influence on George, it gave him some hope and belief that the dream could be achieved

At the same time, George was aware that he had to distinguish between his hopes and reality, as it was always going to be an unobtainable feat

This further emphasises that the American Dream of self sufficiency is really just that - a dream.

Question 15

Why do George and Lennie both have surnames, unlike the other characters in the novella?

Answer 15

In a basic sense, it can be seen as a way for Steinbeck to mark the significance of the two as the novella’s main protagonists

On a more intrinsic level, although George specifically is showcased as different from the other itinerant workers in this sense, he ultimately end up with the same fate as them once Lennie dies at the end of the novel, due to the impossibility of his dream, and the brutality that was enforced upon those with learning difficulties in 1930s America

Question 16

How does George react to seeing Curley’s wife dead in the barn?

Answer 16

“face was as tight and hard as wood”

Question 17

What is the significance of the simile describing George’s face when he discovers Curley’s wife has been killed?

Answer 17

“face was as tight and as hard as wood” - George is refraining from showing emotion, as he is forced to make a decision with vast emotional weight

He also displays a complete lack of empathy for Curley’s wife, highlighting his misogynistic demeanour which was prevalent among men in 1930s America, due to the patriarchal society that they existed within

This helps to show how George is not a perfect character

Question 18

What quote shows how George is Lennie’s caretaker and loyal friend?

Answer 18

“we got somebody to talk to” “that gives a damn about us”

Question 19

Contextually, why is George and Lennie’s friendship notable?

Answer 19

Itinerant workers like George and Lennie would have struggled to have any stability, personal possessions or friendships due to the nature of their work - constantly moving in search of a job. Despite this, they have remained together because of their fraternal bond and more importantly, George’s care for Lennie, separating them from the other, typically lonely ranch hands.

Itinerant workers were in vast numbers due to the Great Depression causing high levels of unemployment.

Question 20

Why is George and Lennie’s friendship important to reveal George’s own character?

Answer 20

It is a medium through which George can display both his temper and frustration whilst also highlighting his deep-rooted compassion