Of Mice and Men Essay

Jay Pasley

9/17/05

George Is the Most Tragic Character in the Book (True or False)?

Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck) is a novel overflowing with friendship, colorful characters, vivid detail and yet a tragic storyline. George and Lennie are two guys that travel the country looking for work during the depression era. Given that Lennie is “not quite right”, George must be accountable for Lennie’s actions and take care of him. Throughout several sequence of events, George gives himself up to care for Lennie and his needs. Although the two do have a dream to buy a farm, George doesn’t achieve it for reasons that may or may not be related to Lennie’s mistakes. George is a rather tragic character because he could be very successful if he didn’t have to look out for Lennie.

Time and time again George will refrain from whatever he is doing to take care of Lennie and fix what problems he’s caused. George could be very successful and would be able to have a life if he wasn’t so “tied down” with Lennie. George states numerous amounts of times that if he didn’t have Lennie “he could live so easily” and “have a regular job and not have any of this mess”. Although he does have a tragic role in the book George does say that he doesn’t want Lennie to leave. I would also have to make the inference that George is a rather smart person, because he constantly thinks ahead and knows what’s best for Lennie and himself. He told Lennie to stay away from Curley’s wife and Curley, and Lennie got in trouble when he got around either of them. He might have been able to go to school (college) or teach somewhere. Even if George didn’t go to teach or do something with his life, he could still have a bit of fun he says that “If I didn’t have you (talking about Lennie) I could go at the end of the month and blow my pay at a cat house”. Most of the time he cannot

do that because he has to take care of Lennie or even move to another plantation to avoid the consequences of what Lennie’s done.

While in Weed, George and Lennie worked on a ranch and had to flee the region when a posse was looking for them. Since George was with Lennie when Lennie was accused of rape, he may have charges as well. Thus making George’s