"If you don't have a dream, How you gonna have a dream come true?" - South Pacific

Steinbeck portrays George as a very knowledgeable, down to earth character. We know he has to take care of Lennie and dream of owning a ranch together, but it seems that we hardly know anything about George as an individual. We can discover Georges character, however, through his past, present and future with Lennie. 

From his very first words in the book, it gave me the impression that George was quite a bitter character. Especially when George tells Lennie about how much better his life would be without him, I felt as though George wasn't going to be a character I liked. Of course he could have been a bit nicer to Lennie but at the same time I didn't feel like his anger was for no reason. The fact that George had to look after a mentally challenged friend on top of not having any money and desperate to find a job, I don't blame him for being short tempered during the time of the biggest Depression in America, he just wanted to keep himself and Lennie alive. 

Is George selfish? He and Lennie are working at the same ranch and getting the same pay but only George is responsible to look after it or spend it wisely. He always tells Lennie to stay out of trouble and not to talk when he tells him to, so is George supposedly 'using' Lennie to steal the money that he earns? This idea could be supported by the what happens to Lennie at the end of the book, as it is a rather spontaneous action which Steinbeck says is more of a mercy killing, but maybe theres a lingering idea that George shot Lennie just to make his own life easier and have an extra 50 bucks under his belt. 

On the other hand, the fact that George killed Lennie could be seen as being beneficial for Lennie rather than George. Ok, we know that Lennie seems to be a bit of a handful, but for Lennie's sake, there is a possibility that George did it because he knew it was the moral thing to do. We know it would be very tough for Lennie to cope on his own, but George knows he can't be there for him all the time. George is in the same situation as Candy was with his dog. Candy's dog wasn't going to live much longer so Carlson persuaded Candy to put it out of its misery. Although Candy regretted agreeing to it, he said afterwards that he would have rather have shot the dog himself rather than let a stranger do it, which foreshadows Georges situation. George knows whats best for him and although it shocked me when I first read it, I didn't feel as though it was the wrong decision for him to make.

Back to when Lennie was alive, George and Lennie had an amazing friendship despite Lennie's lack of understanding. They had a dream of owning their own ranch and growing alfalfa to feed the rabbits. But without Lennie, Georges dream would be non existent. Children are very creative and imaginative; they believe anything they want to believe, which is exactly what Lennie is like. George may have a shadow of doubt that this dream won't become reality, but with Lennie he has a chance to strive for something he wouldn't do without Lennie there. Although George is more a father figure to Lennie, I also believe that George is partly reliant on Lennie as a friend, someone to talk to, someone who he can share his dreams with without him being judged for having such a crazy idea. Lennie is oblivious to the more serious things going on around him, but without Lennie, George would have nothing to live for.

So, although this post is supposed to be based on George, Lennie is mentioned frequently throughout, but without Lennie, do we have any idea who George really is?