George is a good-natured banker, and one of J.'s best friends. Of the three men, he is portrayed as the only one who is seriously dedicated to his job. He brings a banjo on the boat trip and tries to learn how to play it.
Harris is a friend of George and J., who joins them on the trip. Although the novel's flashbacks suggest that J. and Harris (full name William Samuel Harris) have known each other for a long time, J. actually dislikes Harris a great deal. He constantly criticizes Harris for being lazy and uncultured, and writes that "there is no poetry about Harris – no wild yearning for the unattainable" (18).