In the story, "Of Mice and Men," the protagonist George Milton is portrayed as short tempered, and thoughtful. "So you forgot that already, did you? I gotta tell you again do I? Jesus Christ you're a crazy bastard!" (Steinbeck 4). In this line, it expresses how George is clearly angry at their companion Lennie Small because, they forgot where they needed to go which was the ranch. This shows how George is feisty and short tempered because, instead of calmly telling Lennie where they needed to go, George threw a tantrum by shouting slurs at Lennie like, "...Jesus Christ you're a crazy bastard!" (Steinbeck 4). The reason behind George's anger was that this wasn't the first Lennie forgot something, it occurred numerous times which causes George to become frustrated because, he must always be cared for. In addition, because of Lennie's nature being forgetful and unintelligent it makes George short tempered because, they constantly have to deal with Lennie's ways. However, George isn't just a tantrum throwing chapter they also show kindness in their own way. "You never had none, you crazy bastard. I got both of em' here. Think I'd let you carry your own work card?!" (Steinbeck 5). Although, this line doesn't exactly say kindness because, George still throws jabs (which highlights the short temperedness) at Lennie but, they still care for Lennie. Since, George is aware that Lennie is quite forgetful, they made sure that Lennie wouldn't touch the card because they probably would've lost or forgot it somewhere so, George carried their card for Lennie out of thoughtfulness. The main reason behind, George's thoughtfulness is because of Lennie's disability to be responsible so, George must always think of what to do when Lennie's disability gets ahold of them thus, they must always be thoughtful of how to fill up the spaces that Lennie is unable to do.




Besides, George being seen as short tempered and thoughtful, they are also parent like and astute. To illustrate, "You keep away from Curley, Lennie," (Steinbeck 30). In this line, the events that happened beforehand was the introduction between Curley a character who is cocky and likes to cause ruckus and George plus their companion Lennie. As George observes Curley during the greeting, they notice that Curley was trying to intimidate Lennie possibly because, they felt inferior to Lennie or just wanted to boost their authority so, George came to the conclusion because of that impression Lennie must stay away from Curley. This shows how George is a parental character because, like a parent they always look out for any potential dangers that could harm their children in the same way, George is trying to protect Lennie from Curley potentially endangering them. The reason behind their parental nature is because, Lennie is mentally incapable and can't watch out for themselves. It also coerces George to be astute because, if their not then, it will not only endanger Lennie but, George as well. "George looked sharply at him. "What'd you take outa that pocket?" (Steinbeck 6). In this line, what happened beforehand was, Lennie was trying to find out where their work card by pulling something out of their pocket however, George had it because, they knew that Lennie would probably forget it somewhere. But, because Lennie pulled something out of their pocket George becomes suspicious of what exactly is in their pocket. Similarly, to the suspicion of a parent whose child is hiding something that they're not aware of but, at the same time it was very sharp of George to notice that Lennie took out something of their pocket. Later on, as the scene progresses George attempts to force the truth out of Lennie but, Lennie feigns an innocent act and stubbornly tells George they don't have anything. However, George doesn't fall prey to the act and figures out that Lennie carried a mouse with him. In the same way, a parent would not fall to a child's antics and being smart to unearth the truth. Therefore, George short tempered yet astute and parent like.