Slim sat down on a box across the table from George. He studied the solitaire hand that was upside down to him. ‘Hope you get on my team,’ he said. His voice was very gentle. ‘I gotta pair of punks on my team that don’t know a barley bag from a blue ball. You guys ever bucked any barley?’

you should write about:
• what George, Lennie and Slim say and do
• the methods Steinbeck uses to present the relationship between them

One observation we could look at, is the way Steinbeck physically places the characters within the setting in the story, to mirror the dynamics of their respective relationships. For example, 'Slim sat down on a box across the table from George' creates an image of Slim and George being equal, Slim is sitting down opposite George, Slim also chooses to sit down on a box, presumably at the same height level as George.

Steinbeck uses this narration, as a tool to build imagery, and we get the feel that the relationship between Slim and George is open, friendly, and equal. All of this, we can deduce just from the description of their seating arrangement.