Make sure that you have finished reading chapter 3, either using your own book or the E-text. (Chapter 3 finishes on page 94 with the words "Well, get the hell out and wash your face.")
The Fight
Discuss the following (take other people's comments into account when responding yourself)
- Re-read the fight scene. Examine what George says to Lennie at different points in the fight, what is your impression of George - what kind of friend or guardian is George here?
- Has your impression (what you think of George) changed at all?
1. George encourages Lennie to fight back against Curley, "Get him, Lennie. Don't let him do it", even though George could tell that Lennie was terrified of what was happening "Make 'um stop, George.” George doesn’t appear to be a true friend of Lennie’s because he doesn’t attempt to stop Curley from attacking him or help Lennie when he needs him. When Slim tries to help Lennie, George stops him “George put out his hand and grabbed Slim.” George seems to be an irresponsible guardian for Lennie because he appears to encourage the fight, perhaps for the thrill of it, instead of being bothered that his friend is being hurt. Lennie needs to be looked after because he’s not very clever and George doesn’t seem to be living up to these needs. From this scene the impression I get of George is that he doesn’t care too much for Lennie. However, I think that George could have wanted to give Lennie independence, with the chance to stand up for himself, so that if it was ever to happen again Lennie would be prepared.
ReplyDelete2. My impression of George has not changed a great deal because George in a way does protect Lennie by showing that although Lennie isn’t clever, George allows Lennie to show everyone that he is strong which will prevent other men from trying to fight with Lennie in future.
At the start of the fight when Curley accuses Lennie of laughing at him, Lennie "looks helplessly at George" as if looking for guidance in that familiar face, and when he gets no response allows himself to be backed into the corner by Curley, who is "slugging him in the face". Pure fear keeps Lennie's powerful hands hanging loosely at his sides, and he only lifts them to protect his face. When Curley winds Lennie by hitting him in the stomach George, who has been yelling instructions at Lennie, begins to get desperate as he cups his hands around his mouth and shouts "Get 'im, Lennie!" This finally captures his attention as he looks round to try and see George, giving Curley the chance to slash at his face again. However, when Lennie does take action, grabbing Curley's flailing fist and holding on tight, George seems to have a sudden change of heart, bellowing at Lennie to "Leggo of him" and slapping his face. When he does let go he slumps in the corner and says miserably "You tol' me to, George".
ReplyDeleteThis scene has not changed my impression of George, because I think he has Lennie's best interests at heart, but in this scene he is encouraging him to attack, and then changing his mind when it seemed Lennie's actions would get them both "canned", which makes me think that he could be more concerned with saving money to buy a farm, keeping his head down while the money piles up so he and Lennie can quit and be their own bosses.
Luke
ReplyDeleteAt the start of the fight between Curley and Lennie, Lennie is letting Curley hurt him and not retaliating to being hit in the face, but then George says to Lennie "Get him Lennie don't let him do it", this shows that George controls Lennie and Lennie will listen to anything that George says.
This shows that George is a caring friend because he wants Lennie to be independent and not always relying on him, this is helping Lennie because George may not always be around to help Lennie so George is preparing Lennie for the future. But it also shows that George can be quite cruel with Lennie because Lennie doesnt fully understand so will just do whatever George tells him too.
My impression of Lennie hasn't changed because he is still protecting Lennie like he has before but just in a different way, he is making sure Lennie will stand up for himself and not let people take him for a fool.
1) at the start of the fight, until Lennie got more seriously hurt George didn't say anything. I think this is because George wanted things to happen in the exact order they did to protect his and Lennie's jobs, as he knew that was the only way people would be on the pairs side. here George is showing that he looks out for Lennie as much as he looks out for himself. When the fight became much more violent George told Lennie to protect himself, here it is portrayed that George is increasingly concerned for Lennie when he is put in danger an will risk his future plans to guarantee his safety which shows how much George cares about Lennie. When Lennie has the upper-hand in the fight George switches again and tells Lennie to release Curly, this is because know George is certain Lennie is safe he switches back to future ambitions been his priority. Overall i think George is both a friend and a farther figure to Lennie, and see's him as a responsibility he has to make sure is safe.
ReplyDelete2)my impression of George has changed as he confirms that he has Lennie's best interests at heart in this chapter, where as before the reader was uncertain what George was really thinking, and weather he wanted and enjoyed Lennie's company.
Amy Salisbury :)
Sarah hartley:
ReplyDelete1)During the first part of the fight scene George encourages Lenne to fight with Curley by saying things like "Get'im, Lennie". This gives us the impression that George doesnt care if lennie gets hurts, he just wants to see Curley get beaten as George feels hatred towards him. This makes us angry at George as we know he has learning difficulties. Although after a while George realises he is being stupid as he tells Lennie to let go of Curley. I think that George remebers how strong Lennie is and panics that he will serioulsy harm Curley.
2) My impression of George changes at first as i get the impression he is a bad friend telling Lennie to fight as we see in the begining part of the book George protects Lennie. Although George does realise that he has done wrong by telling Lennie to fight with Curley as if he almost gets caught up in the moment and forgets about looking after Lennie.
Joe Martin
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the fight George says "Get him, Lennie. Don't let him do it". This shows that George is caring about Lennie because he is encouraging him to retaliate back towards Curley because Lennie is asking George for help as he doesn't know what to do about it.
In the middle of the fight George stops Slim from interupting the fight. This sort of makes us feel that George doesn't want anyone to help Lennie however later on George says "I said get him." This shows George knows Lennie can do damage to Curley however Lennie needs instuctions from George as he does what George says. Therefore George wants Lennie to "get him" so that Lennie protects himself and gets Curley off of him which is caring and very well thought out by George.
This shows that George is a good guardian as he is helping Lennie out. This is different to what i thought of George before because he used to call Lennie a "silly bastard" all the time as though he was getting annoyed at how Lennie was acting. This led me to thinking that George only had to look after Lennie because of his child like behaviour which i thought George took the micky out of. However, from this act where George saves Lennie and helps him, changes my mind because it now shows to me that George does care about Lennie as he knows what Lennie can do. This is because he knows Lennie can do damage and he doesn't want him to get hurt, so George tells him to get Curley and George knows that Lennie will win and do what hes says, so he will cause damage because he knows him so well.
casey.
ReplyDelete1) when lennie says "make 'um let me alone, george" and when george says "get him lennie, dont let him do it." it makes me change my opinion on george because if he really cared about lennie he would have stepped in and wouldnt have made lennie fight.
when george says "leggo his hand, lennie.leggo" and when lennie says "you tol' me to, george" this shows that lennie really looks upto george and goes along with what he is told to do because he thinks george knows best, but it also shows that george is abit of a bad friend, making lennie do something he didnt want to do.
2) my impression of george has changed from this because it seems like george really looks after lennie and is a good guardian and sets a good example for him but here it shows he knows how to get lennie into trouble and he didnt really help lennie, he just made him fight.
Kimmy- At the begining of scene it is clear that George wants Lennie to stand up for himself even though Lennie is crying out to George for help "Make 'um let me alone, George." This shows Lennie is vunerable and shows his learning difficulties, but will do anything George tells him to do "Get him, Lennie." This also suggests that George wont allow Lennie to be beaten up. During the fight Slim wantss to jump in and protect Lennie as Curley winds Lennie, but George adamant that Lennie will fight back tells Lennie again to get Curley. This shows that Lennie is like a child and needs to be told what to do, after yelling to Lennie several times he finally listens to George and grabs at Curleys wrist. Georges attitude changes throughout the scene as he sees that George is hurting Curley and tells him to stop, "Leggo his hand" this shows us that George regrets having told Lennie to hurt Curley and he needs to see a doctor "Looks to me like ever' bone is his han' is bust". My impression of George hasn't really changed throughout the book as he is always there for Lennie and encourages him to stand up for himself, this shows that George looks out for Lennie and always is a good friend to Lennie, this is shown throughout the book, by George telling Lennie about them living off the 'Fatta land".
ReplyDeleteGeorge is not a good parent figure at this point because he is encouraging Lennie to fight - "Get him,Lennie. Don't let him do it." At this point George is not acting very responsible and is encouraging Lennie to cause trouble and fight, However George is acting like a parent figure in some ways as he is teaching George to stand up for himself and not let other people take advantage of his gentile nature. He is teaching George that sometimes he has to stand up for himself in order to make sure that people do not take advantage of him.
ReplyDeleteI think that in this scene George becomes more like a brother or friend to Lennie as he encourages the fighting like a friend would, but you can also see that he still cares because he doesn't want George to get hurt because people think they can take advantage of him.
Overall my opinion towards George has not changed much because he was only teaching George to stand up for himself. However I do believe that George could have stood in and stopped it before it got violent or when Lennie was asking him for help; "Make 'um let me alone, George." If George would have stood in at this point it would have stopped any harm coming to both of the men especially Curley who could get them both fired for what Lennie had done to him.
My initial impressin of George is that he is really caring and almost like a father figure to Lennie, however this opinion suddenly changes throughout the fight scene. This is because my opinion is now of the idea that George is a bad friend as he encourages Lennie to fight with Curley because we know that he has learning difficulties and doesn't really know any better. I see this when - "Get him Lennie. Don't let him do it." This shows how he forgets about the strength Lennie has and Lennie will also feel peer pressured as a result of this because of his child like mind.
ReplyDeleteAlex:
ReplyDelete1. At the beginning of the fight George tells Lennie to 'get him', this to me shows that George wants lennie to protect him self, but he doesn't want to get involved because he wants to show Curley that lennie shouldn't be messed with, and if lennie sticks up for himself then they may have a chance of keeping their work on the ranch as Curley wont mess with them again. here George is more like a big brother to lennie as he is telling him what to do and how to stick up for himself. at the end of the fight George is more like a parent as he is telling lennie to let go, and to stop.
2. my impression of George has not changed because i think that everything he told lennie during and after the fight he was doing to protect him and to give him an easier life.
George has always told lennie not to retaliate as he doesnt want him to get into anymore trouble but when curley attacks lennie, he tells him to protect himself by fighting back. "Get him lennie. Dont let him do it." By doing this, george sounds like a friend trying to back up another friend.
ReplyDeleteWhen lennie does fight back though, george realises its not the right thing to do and that he will get into alot of trouble for it he shouts "leggo of him, lennie. let go." This makes george sound like a pather-figure, trying to protect him.
After the fight, george reasures lennie that they will still get the farm and the rabbits so again he is acting like a father igure.
My impressions of lennie havent changed as i still think hes like a father to him.
Katy Roberts.
1)During the first part of the fight scene George encourages Lennie to fight with Curley by saying things such as "Get'im, Lennie". This gives us the impression that George doesnt care if lennie gets hurts, he just wants to see Curley get beaten as George feels hatred towards him. This makes us angry at George as we know he has learning difficulties. Although after a while George realises he is being stupid as he tells Lennie to let go of Curley. I think that George remebers how strong and how Lennie has no boundries when it comes to fighting and harming somebody for a reason therefore he panics that he will serioulsy harm Curley.
ReplyDelete2) My impression of George changes at first as i get the impression he is a bad friend telling Lennie to fight,as from the begginning of the book George is the one that is protecting Lennie and encourageing goood behaviour instead of encouraging fighting.Although George does realise that he has done wrong by telling/encourageing the fight between Lennie and Curley,it is as though he forgets who Lennie is and gets caught up in the moment.
jessicaa
At the beginning of the fight when Curley punches Lennie and George has realized Lennie is not fighting back George says to Lennie "Get him Lennie. Don't let him do it". This shows how Lennie is acting as a father figure to Lennie and doesn't want him to get hurt. Also, George doesn't get involved with the fight and i think this is because he has already had trouble with the boss when George wouldn't let Lennie speak for him self.
ReplyDeleteDuring the fight George shouts "Let go of him Lennie, let go!" which shows that he knows that Lennie has gone to far and knows he is not able to stop because of his learning difficulties.
I think that George is a good guardian to Lennie becuase he protects him by telling him what to do but also lets him fight his own battles to help him learn for the future.
My impression of George hasn't changed because George still has Lennie's best interests at heart and knows what is good for Lennie, if he didn't care about Lennie in the first place he would not have left Weed with Lennie and found new jobs together, he would have just left him. It shows how he is concerned for Lennie and cares about him.
Abbie powell
From the very start it is obvious that Lennie doesn’t want to fight ‘make ‘um let me alone, George.’ But George ignores this and encourages him, ‘get him, Lennie.’ This shows that George isn’t a very good friend because Lennie is pleading for him to help and George does nothing, but in fact encourages the fight. Then later on when Lennie cries ‘make um’ stop, George,’ George prevents Slim from stepping in and shouts ‘wait a minute.’ At this point, i see George as an irresponsible guardian because to me this implies that George is finding the whole fight amusing and has no intentions of helping his friend. Finally, when George says ‘Get him, lennie!’ my impressions of George get better because he realises that Curley wasn’t going to give up on Lennie. However, George then has a change of heart, when ‘Curley’s closed fist was lost in Lennie’s big hand’ this is because George realises the implications of Lennie hurting Curley.
ReplyDeleteThis fight has not changed my impressions of George at all because although he let lennie get into trouble and get hurt, i think he had Lennie’s best interests at heart. He only allowed Lennie to fight to show him what could happen if he wasn’t there to help him. And by doing this he has also shown other men what could happen if they fight with Lennie in the future, gaining power for him and Lennie on the ranch.
1)George does not act like a good guardian to lennie in the fight scene. George encourages lennie to fight back against curley "Get him lennie dont let him do it" George knows lennie will do what ever e tells him to so for his own entertainment he makes lennie fight back. By making lennie fight back he is being a very poor guardian and also he is being a terrible friend as he knows lennie doesnt like fighting.
ReplyDelete2)the fight scene has changed my impression of george as before the fight i thought george really cared about lennie but now i believe george only uses lennie as somebody to talk to while they was travelling to the ranch. Also george knows if he uses his and lennies combined wages to buy their own ranch the will have the money in half the time it would take for george to save by himself.
Michael Sargent
Ellie
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the fight scence, Lennie does not want to fight curly. When geroge sees this he dosnt want lennie to get hurt so he encourages him to fight back, "get him, lennie. Don't let him do it". This shows george acting as a guardian and father figure to lennie. Although george does not want to see lennie get hurt, he his also fearful as he knows the damage lennie can cause. This is why george then tries to stop lennie as he see's curly's hand pouring with blood.
My impression has changed slighty, because i thought george cared for lennie but i did not think george would have won'ted to protect him. This shows george has more feelings and emotions then he shows in front of everyone else. It also shows that he does not think of lennie as just a friend he thinks of him as a brother and protects him like any brother would for their sibling.
Jack -
ReplyDelete1.Lennie doesn't want to fight Curley at the start of the fight. Although after encouragement from George, "Get him, Lennie. Don't let him do it" Lennie starts to fight back as he doesn't want him to get hurt. Here we see George taking a fathering role. Towards the end of the fight George tells Lennie to "leggo of him" as he knows the power of him and doesn't want to get sacked if the Boss, Curleys Dad, finds out. George is looking out for his and Lennie's best interests so we see him as a farther figure or guardian to him again.
2.This scene has not changed my impressions of George at all as throughout the story he has look out for his and Lennie's best interests as they are both traveling together.
At the start of the fight scene we know that Lennie does not want to retaliate to Curley's violent outburst when Steinbeck writes "Lennie looked helplessly at George, and then he got up and tried to retreat" the word retreat leads us to assume that Lennie doesn't want to interact with Curley, and is almost trying to run away from him in a sense. However when Curley starts to throw punches at Lennie; catching him with one, in the face, causing 'blood to well from his nose' this triggers George into shouting "Get him, Lennie. don't let him do it." In my opinion when George says this he is once again showing his fatherly stature towards Lennie, and is exercising a method of tough love. In my opinion I feel by George not intervening into the fight, and just letting them get on with it, he thinks this will help Lennie to grow and thrive. By not getting involved he is letting Lennie fight his own battles as George knows he is more than capable of doing so. However other people may feel that by George saying this he is not being a very good guardian towards Lennie as he is not breaking up the fight; as we know Lennie is terryfied by the situation now unavailing when we read "make 'um let me alone, George". it could also be said that George is trying to influence him into retaliating, and when it is apparent he doesn't want to. It could be said that he is not putting Lennie's best interests first.
ReplyDeleteThis event has slightly altered the way I look at George as although I still feel he is a kind, childlike man, the fight has drawn my attention into the fact that Lennie is still a very large man and although he means no harm and isn't aware of the damage he could cause to a person, the fight shows us what a man of his size is capable of.
Sam Mitchell
Jade
ReplyDelete1) At the start of the fight scene Lennie didn't want to fight Curley, but George tried to persuade him by saying "Get him Lennie, Don't let him do it." This shows that George doesn't seem to bothered about Lennie, because if he was bothered he would have stood up for Lennie and made sure that he didn't get hurt, but instead he chooses to encourage Lennie to fight.
2) My impression of George has changed quite a bit, at first I thought he was a kind and caring parent figure for Lennie, but as shown in the fight scene he has encouraged Lennie to fight Curley, even after George insisted him not to, it seems that George is only thinking of himself.
fran.
ReplyDeleteA) At this point i feel george is responible for lennies actions as lennie in very vunerable and looks to george as a role model so when george shouts and encourages Lennie 'Get him Lennie, Don't let him do this' i think it shows that George is influencing lennie's thoughts and making decisions for him as Lennie initaially thought nothing of the fact Candy had begin to beat him, it was insignificant and would pass yet when George uses phrases such as 'Don't let him do this' it implies to Lennie that an offence must be taken when George is only doing it for his satifaction. Towards the end of the scene when George realises the damage that could be caused he panics 'leggo his hand Lennie. Leggo. Slim come and help me while the guy got any hand left' i think this shows a selfish side to George as he decides for Lennie to stop when it suits him also when he finds he could get into trouble he changes his views emmidiatly.
B) My impression of George has changed due to his change in personality. Also his lack of respect and consideration for Lennie as he knows that Lennie isn't all there yet abandons him for his own pleasure.