The Killers

by

Ernest Hemingway

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George is the manager at Henry’s diner. His age and background are unknown, but his paternalistic way of talking to Nick and giving him directions indicates that he is older and more experienced than Nick. When Max and Al come into the diner, George becomes the primary target of their harassment. He is repeatedly called a “bright boy,” which is meant as a slight to both his masculinity and his intelligence. Despite these insults, George’s fear prevents him from standing up for himself. While Al ties up Nick and Sam in the kitchen, George is left alone with Max. George is horrified to learn about their plan to kill Ole Andreson and he frequently checks the clock while he counts down the minutes until the hitmen will give up. When Ole does not come in, they tell George he’s “got a lot of luck” and they leave without hurting any of their hostages. George is better at hiding his fear than Nick is, but he is still too scared to go warn Ole about the hitmen himself, and so he tells Nick to do it. When Nick returns with news of Ole’s acceptance of death, George quickly tries to put it out of his mind. He gets out a towel and begins wiping down the counters, telling Nick he “better not think about it” anymore. In general, George is slightly more able to cope with the possibility of death than Nick is, but he still can’t accept and embrace the inevitability of death, a mark of immaturity in Hemingway’s eyes.

George Quotes in The Killers

The The Killers quotes below are all either spoken by George or refer to George. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Innocence and Experience Theme Icon
).
The Killers Quotes

“I’ll have a roast pork tenderloin with apple sauce and mashed potatoes,” the first man said.

“It isn’t ready yet.”

“What the hell do you put it on the card for?”

“That’s the dinner,” George explained. “You can get that at six o’clock.”

George looked at the clock on the wall behind the counter.

“It’s five o’clock.”

“The clock says it’s twenty minutes past five,” the second man said.

“It’s twenty minutes fast.”

“Oh, to hell with the clock,” the first man said. “What have you got to eat?”

Related Characters: George (speaker), Max (speaker), Al (speaker)
Related Symbols: The Diner Clock
Page Number: 215
Explanation and Analysis:

“You’re a pretty bright boy, aren’t you?”

“Sure,” said George.

“Well, you’re not,” said the other little man. “Is he Al?”

“He’s dumb,” said Al.

Related Characters: George (speaker), Max (speaker), Al
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 216
Explanation and Analysis:

“Where do you think you are?”

“We know damn well where we are,” the man called Max said. “Do we look silly?”

“You talk silly,” Al said to him.

Related Characters: George (speaker), Max (speaker), Al (speaker)
Page Number: 217
Explanation and Analysis:

“What are you going to kill Ole Andreson for? What did he ever do to you?”

“He never had a chance to do anything to us. He never even seen us.”

“And he’s only going to see us once,” Al said from the kitchen.

“What are you going to kill him for, then?” George asked.

“We’re killing him for a friend. Just to oblige a friend, bright boy.”

Related Characters: George (speaker), Max (speaker), Ole Andreson
Page Number: 218
Explanation and Analysis:

“Listen,” George said to Nick. “You better go see Ole Andreson.”

“All right.”

“You better not have anything to do with it at all,” Sam, the cook, said. “You stay out of it.”

“Don’t go if you don’t want to,” George said.

“Mixing up in this ain’t going to get you anywhere,” the cook said. “You stay out of it.”

“I’ll go see him,” Nick said to George.

Related Characters: Nick Adams (speaker), George (speaker), Sam (speaker), Ole Andreson
Page Number: 220
Explanation and Analysis:

“I can’t stand to think about him waiting in the room and knowing he’s going to get it. It’s too damned awful.”

“Well,” said George, “you better not think about it.”

Related Characters: Nick Adams (speaker), George (speaker), Ole Andreson
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 222
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Killers PDF

George Quotes in The Killers

The The Killers quotes below are all either spoken by George or refer to George. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Innocence and Experience Theme Icon
).
The Killers Quotes

“I’ll have a roast pork tenderloin with apple sauce and mashed potatoes,” the first man said.

“It isn’t ready yet.”

“What the hell do you put it on the card for?”

“That’s the dinner,” George explained. “You can get that at six o’clock.”

George looked at the clock on the wall behind the counter.

“It’s five o’clock.”

“The clock says it’s twenty minutes past five,” the second man said.

“It’s twenty minutes fast.”

“Oh, to hell with the clock,” the first man said. “What have you got to eat?”

Related Characters: George (speaker), Max (speaker), Al (speaker)
Related Symbols: The Diner Clock
Page Number: 215
Explanation and Analysis:

“You’re a pretty bright boy, aren’t you?”

“Sure,” said George.

“Well, you’re not,” said the other little man. “Is he Al?”

“He’s dumb,” said Al.

Related Characters: George (speaker), Max (speaker), Al
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 216
Explanation and Analysis:

“Where do you think you are?”

“We know damn well where we are,” the man called Max said. “Do we look silly?”

“You talk silly,” Al said to him.

Related Characters: George (speaker), Max (speaker), Al (speaker)
Page Number: 217
Explanation and Analysis:

“What are you going to kill Ole Andreson for? What did he ever do to you?”

“He never had a chance to do anything to us. He never even seen us.”

“And he’s only going to see us once,” Al said from the kitchen.

“What are you going to kill him for, then?” George asked.

“We’re killing him for a friend. Just to oblige a friend, bright boy.”

Related Characters: George (speaker), Max (speaker), Ole Andreson
Page Number: 218
Explanation and Analysis:

“Listen,” George said to Nick. “You better go see Ole Andreson.”

“All right.”

“You better not have anything to do with it at all,” Sam, the cook, said. “You stay out of it.”

“Don’t go if you don’t want to,” George said.

“Mixing up in this ain’t going to get you anywhere,” the cook said. “You stay out of it.”

“I’ll go see him,” Nick said to George.

Related Characters: Nick Adams (speaker), George (speaker), Sam (speaker), Ole Andreson
Page Number: 220
Explanation and Analysis:

“I can’t stand to think about him waiting in the room and knowing he’s going to get it. It’s too damned awful.”

“Well,” said George, “you better not think about it.”

Related Characters: Nick Adams (speaker), George (speaker), Ole Andreson
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 222
Explanation and Analysis: