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Character Quotations in Of Mice and Men (George (Short temper ("Son…
Character Quotations in Of Mice and Men
George
Carer for Lennie
Father figure
"I got you and you got me"
Cares for Lennie, even though there are risks
Sticks with Lennie, feels he has a duty to care for him
"Lennie never done it in meanness"
"I ain't gonna let 'em hurt Lennie"
Migrant worker
"The little man"
"George was tense and motionless"
Short temper
"Son of a bitch"
Quotation used frequently
adrenaline
"God damn"
"Jesus Christ"
"hell"
"God a'mighty"
"George was working up a slow anger"
"George said brusquely"
"George spat on the floor disgustedly"
Defensive
Dominant
"I'll give you the matches when you get the sticks together"
Frustrated with his situation
smart
"Smart little guy"
Seeks the American dream
"You can jus' as well go to hell"
loneliness
plays solitaire
Game which requires one person
Solitaire means alone - metaphor for characters in the novella
Compromises the fact that him and Lennie travel and live together
Frightened of being lonely
Good judge of character and can sense danger
Sombre
"his face was as hard and tight as wood"
"he said woodenly"
"His voice was monotonous, had no emphasis"
Shooting Lennie
"He reached in his side pocket and brought out Carlson's luger"
"George raised the gun and his hand shook"
"George raised the gun and steadied it"
Lennie
Disability
Totally dependent on George
"Lennie looked hopelessly at George"
"A dum-dum"
"The poor bastard's nuts"
Animal like
"Lennie dabbled his big paw"
"dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws"
"Lennie dabbled his big paw in the water"
"Snorting into the water like a horse"
"Slowly, like a terrier"
"Strong as a bull"
"Lennie growled back to his seat on the nail keg"
Animals growl when they are angry
"He pawed up the hay until it partly covered her"
Dogs cover up their waste - Curley's wife is Lennie's waste
"he came silently as a creeping bear moves"
Unable to hide his emotions
"Lennie watched her, fascinated"
"Lennie's eyes moved down over her body"
"Lennie's disarming smile defeated him"
"Lennie watched her, his mouth half open"
"Lennie chuckled to himself"
Doesn't know his own strength
"There ain't nobody can keep up with him. God awmighty I never seen such a strong guy"
"For a moment he seemed bewildered"
Physically well co-ordinated
Man's body but a child's outlook
"I like beans with ketchup"
George killing Lennie is the best thing because otherwise he would face institution
Slow to catch onto things
Heavy handed
"Lennie came crashing back through the brush"
Manipulative
Gets George to repeat the American Dream
"Tell me-like you done before"
"Go on... George. How I get to tend the rabbits"
"Go on-tell again, George"
"I can still tend the rabbits, George"
"George says I get to tend 'em. He promised."
Childish actions and emotions
"Lennie droned softly"
"A light of understanding broke onto Lennie's face"
"Lennie don't know no rules"
"Lennie rolled off the bunk and stood up"
"Lennie, who had been following the conversation back and forth with his eyes, smiles complacently at the compliment"
"He wore his blue denim coat over his shoulders like a cape"
Hangs onto things violently when he is scared
"and still Lennie held on to the closed fist"
"Lennie's fiingers closed on her hair and hung on"
"Lennie followed his words admiringly, and moved his lips a little to keep up"
"Lennie drummed on the table with his fingers"
"I bet by Christ he likes it there, by Jesus"
Copies George's cursing like a child
"He crouched cowering against the wall"
"He smiled helplessly in an attempt to make friends"
"Lennie looked up guiltily"
"Why do you got to get killed"
"Lennie had to think carefully before he came to a conclusion"
Lennie blames the animals he kills for their own death, because they are 'tiny', unwilling to blame himself
Foreboding
"I'll break their God damn necks"
Referring to breaking the cat's necks if they hurt the rabbits
Forebodes the breaking of Curley's wife's neck
Curley
Frustration of The Great Depression
Rude
wrath
"By Christ"
"This guy Curley sounds like a son-of-a-bitch to me"
"His arms gradually bent at the elbows and his hands closed into fists"
boxer's stance
"Curley was balanced and poised"
"Head of tightly curled hair"
Quick to fight
"His glance was at once calculating and pugnacious"
Tries to earn respect by picking fights
"His glance was at once calculating and pugnacious"
"He's alla time picking scraps with the guys"
Vain, boastful and agressive
Two dimensional villain
Conscious of his own failings
Prejudice
Short
Napoleon syndrome-more angry to compensate for his height
Let's all of his anger out in one go
Fights Lennie
"Head of tightly curled hair"
Spring-like
"Curley scowled at him"
"Curley burst into the room excitedly"
"Curley looked threateningly about the room"
"Then Curley's rage exploded"
"He worked himself into a fury"
Superior-high heeled boots
"like the boss, wore high-heeled boots"
Curley's wife
Flirt
"Nobody can blame a person for looking"
"She ain't concealin' nothing"
"She looked closely at Lennie to see if she was impressing him"
Promisquous
"Twitched her body"
"rubbing the nails of one hand with the forefinger of the other."
loneliness
"Ain't I got the right to talk to nobody"
"I get awful lonely"
"I don't like Curley, he ain't a nice fella"
treatment of women
"You God damn tramp"
"Jail bait"
"you lousy tart"
"Her fingernails were red"
connotations of love/hate
"They left all the weak ones here"
ironic because she is a weak one
"The whole country is fulla mutts"
object - no name
fake
Tries to be what she's not
"She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up"
"Her voice had a nasal, brittle quality"
"She moved closer to him an she spoke soothingly"
Intelligent
"Baloney! What you think you're sellin' me"
"Well ain't she a looloo"
Skatty - promiscuous
Can be vindictive and she will use the power her status gives her, even if it is totally unfair
"You know what I can do to you if you open your trap?"
"I could get you strung up on a tree so easy"
Dream
"He was gonna put me in the movies"
Had her dream was destroyed too
"I could of went withe the shows"
"I coulda made something of myself"
Immature
"Maybe you just better go along an' roll your hoop"
"Her body flopped like a fish"
Candy
Disability
"Round, stick-like wrist"
Caught in a machine
250 dollars compensation
Age
"Tall, stoop shouldered old man"
Right from the start, his age and his physical weakness are emphasised
Useless
Old and disabled
"Old swamper"
Loneliness
"I had him since he was a pup"
Only companion is his dog"
Can't save his dog from being shot
"Candy lay rigidly on his bed staring at the ceiling"
"I ain't got the poop anymore"
Lack of effort
"He scratched the white stubble whiskers on his cheek nervously"
"He scratched the stump of his wrist nervously"
"He rubbed his smooth wrist on his white stubble whiskers"
The American Dream
"S'pose I went with you guys"
Described through his dog
"a drag-footed sheep dog, grey of muzzle and with pale, blind old eyes"
"looking blindly into the lighted room"
Intelligent
"He was the master of the situation"
Crooks
Disability
Racism
"Cause I'm black"
"a lean negro head, lined with pain, the eyes patient."
"the negro stable buck"
"They say I stink."
Segregation
"I ain't allowed in the bunkhouse"
"Crooks scowled, but Lennie's disarming smile defeated him"
Jim Crow laws
1) It shall be unlawful for a white person to marry anyone except a white person
2) No person shall provide meals to white and coloured passengers in the same room, same table or same counter
3) It shall be unlawful for coloured people to frequent any park used and enjoyed by white people
4) The schools for white children and the schools for negro children shall be conducted separately
5) Books shall not be interchangeable between white and coloured schools
Unusual character in America at the time
Negro and disabled
"Ya see the stable buck's a nigger"
Protects his feelings by keeping to himself
"You've got no right to come into my room"
Ironic because Crooks has no rights
Lennie would've had more rights
loneliness
"His tone was a little more friendly"
Doesn't know how to react to kindess
"A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody"
"Got a crooked back where a horse kicked him"
Proud
Hero for himself in the novella, independent and intelligent
"for Crooks was a proud, aloof man."
"Crooks had retired into the terrible protective dignity of the negro"
"Nobody gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land"
Double burden
black man in society
partially disabled in a society where people are expected to provide a service
Cynical
Knows his place
"He had thin, pain-tightened lips"
learnt to keep his mouth shut
"Crooks had reduced himself to nothing"
Power
"Crooks pressed forward some kind of private victory"
Not used to having power of any form
"Crook's face lighted with pleasure in his torture"
"It was difficult for Crooks to conceal his pleasure with anger"
Irony
"And a manure pile under the window. Sure, it's swell"
"You got no rights comin' in a coloured man's room"
Slim
Authority figure on the ranch
"The prince of the ranch"
Treated/acts like royalty
"He moved into the room, and he moved with a majesty only achieved by royalty and master craftsmen"
"for Slim's opinions were law"
"His hatchet face was ageless. He might've been 35 or 50"
Powerful face
People respect him
"saw the calm, Godlike eyes fastened on him"
"The skinner had been studying the old dog with calm eyes"
"big, tall skinner"
Takes pride in his appearance
"While he combed his long, black, damp, hair straight back"
"His ear heard more than was said to him"
"A tall man stood in the doorway"
Comforts George for killing Lennie
He knows that life is hard and that dreams don't come true
Carlson
Not affected by death
"How did you do it"
"The way I'd do it, he wouldn't feel a thing"
Violence
"I'll get my Luger"
Outward friendly but essentially selfish
"Glad to meet ya"
Little regard for feeling
"A powerful, big-stomached man came into the bunkhouse"
Longs for friendship
"The thick-bodied Carlson"
"He walked over with his heavy-legged stride and looked down at the dog"
"Carlson insisted"