George OMAM Quotes

George, Intro (1)

“small and quick… with restless eyes”

George, Loneliness (2)

“God you’re a lot of trouble” to Lennie
“guys like us…are the loneliest guys in the world”.

George, Friendship (4)

“what stake you got in this guy” - the boss to George about Lennie
“He’s nuts, Slim. He never done this to be mean.” - George covering for Lennie
“I ain’t mad, I ain’t never been mad” - George attempting to end Lennie’s life with happy thoughts
“it’s a lot nicer to go around with a guy you know”

George, American Dream (2)

“live off the fatta the lan”
“how it’s gonna be”

George, Intro Context (3)

Steinbeck told the NY Times in 1937: “The Characters are all composites to a certain extent”
Steinbeck wanted to document the suffering of the people he worked with “I am trying to write history - a visceral documentary.”
The ranch acts as a microcosm for America in the 1930s and this is clearly the case for George who represents the struggles of itinerant workers and the negative impact of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl.

George, Loneliness Context (1)

Due to the environmental disaster of the Dust Bowl, the economic collapse in 1929 and the subsequent Great Depression, many men were forced to leave their homes in search of work.

George, Friendship Context (2)

During the 1930s rugged individualism became a popular idea. This was the approach of every man for himself.
Steinbeck said in an interview in 1937 that the character of Lennie was based on a real person who ended up in an insane asylum in California. This treatment of mental disabilities was typical in 1930s America. This shows how empathetic George remains to his disability and makes the ending more tragic as George’s mercy killing of Lennie is out of protection and love for him.

George, American Dream Context (2)

Steinbeck named the novella after the poem “To a mouse” by Robert Burns about a mouse whose tiny nest is destroyed. Similarly George and Lennie’s dreams of a small piece of land was destroyed by forces outside of their control.
Steinbeck originally wanted to call the novella “Something That Happened” since nobody in the novella can be blamed for what happens.