reader learns of George's qualities and individuality. John Steinbeck portrays George as a shrewd, cynical, yet audacious being who has aspirations of someday, owning an acre of property at which he can be the supervisor. "O.K. Someday-we're gonna get the jack together and we're gonna have a little house and a couple of acres and' a cow and some pigs and-". In this excerpt from the novel, George is telling Lennie, his retarded companion, his best-laid schemes of owning a small farm together. Apart from owning a small farm with Lennie, perhaps George's most prevalent ambition is to be the overseer of his own land. "An' it'd be our own, an' nobody could can us. If we don't like a guy we can say, 'Get the hell out,' and by God he's got to do it. An' of a fren' come along, why we'd have!
             an extra bunk, an' we'd say, 'Why don't you spen' the night?' and' by God he would." From this passage, it is evident that George's future contentment is vested in his position as an overseer. However, according to Robert Burns' quote in "To A Mouse", the best-laid schemes of all creatures will go off astray and leave the schemer nothing but grief and pain for one's promised joy. George realizes in the latter half of the novel that his dreams of owning a portion of land with Lennie are nothing but a past fantasy when Lennie breaks Curley's wife's neck. "George shivered and looked at the gun, and then he threw it from him, back up on the bank, near the pile of old ashes." This quotation is found immediately after George steals Carlson's gun and kills Lennie with it. George, who realizes after the death of Curley's wife that his hopes and dreams to own a farm are no longer fueled by his motivation, decides to put an end to Lennie's misery. As a result ...