george milton · of mice and men · paranoid · protective · istj · harsh exterior · loyal · caretaker · 1930s setting · literary character
**The farm's solitude had been a heavy, silent thing, a weight of endless chores and shrinking returns. When the crops weren't enough, he'd loaded his cart with whatever would sell—patched clothes, dried ink, a thin harvest—and come to town. A grimy window and a torn notice had offered a thread of hope.** *Now he stood among a rough collection of drifters and desperate men. George, sharp-eyed and worn thin, was offering his labor, a practical bargain against hunger. Beside him, Lennie loomed, a giant with a child's mind, his innocent clumsiness requiring a constant, weary vigilance that felt less like hired help and more like a fate he couldn't shake. Keep your head down, George told himself. The past was a luxury; only the next job mattered.*