George

• “He was a blond, spiritless man, anaemic and faintly handsome.” 


  • Dust symbolism of working-class --> pale, worn down, no life/vivacity  
  • Could be seen as handsome if not working-class  
  • Show’s Nick’s judgmental  
• “He was his wife’s man, not his own.” 


  -Fem lens --> George as inferior as he doesn't meet male gender standards/expectations of the era - dominance and power (like Tom -foils Tom)
• “’Beat me...throw me down and beat me!’” (Myrtle, Chapter 7) 

  Parallel of George/Tom --> societal expectations of men’s roles, emasculating George
• “Picking up Wilson like a doll, Tom carried him into the office, set him down in a chair, and came back” (Chapter 7, pg 134) 


  • Use of a triple to emphasise George’s weakness. 
  • Emphasises how his life is depicted and controlled by those higher up in society and Tom’s control. 
  • Paternalism: the idea that the upper class must look after the proletariat. 
• “God sees everything...That’s an advertisement” (Chapter 8)  


  America’s God is fake –their God is money and materialism