George Character Analysis

George is an adolescent boy who helps Lana Lee distribute pornography at his school. George is surly and confrontational but is afraid of the police and believes that Patrolman Mancuso suspects him of something when Mancuso stops George in the bus station bathroom, where he Mancuso been temporarily stationed. Lana Lee uses George because she knows that he has access to the school (and to school supplies which she uses as props) and does not care that her venture puts him at risk of arrest. For a short time, George uses Ignatius’s hot dog cart to store the pornography he distributes, as he cannot carry it around with him all day before school gets out. George’s mother worries about him and hopes he will do well at school. This suggests that George is from a nice home and that his criminal behavior is a result of adolescent rebellion rather than any need for money to escape his circumstances. George is punished for his behavior at the novel’s end when he is arrested for his involvement in the pornography ring.