How Does Steinbeck Present Lennie's Dream In Of Mice And Men

He doubted Lennie because of his incapability to keep his head down and do what he’s told. Lennie constantly asked George to reassure him of these dreams to comfort and motivate him.

This is the first mention we have of the American dream. Even from the introduction, it seems Lennie is more excited than George about the prospect. George’s easy dismissal of "them rabbits" makes it seem as though he thinks the whole thing is silly. This will get more difficult as we realize that George might be as excited about the dream as Lennie; it seems he is just more cautious about that excitement, given that he’s more knowledgeable than his companion.

George is the logical one, always figuring out some way to keep Lennie going. Such as the beginning of the tale when he states the dream to motivate Lennie to talk about something happy. “‘O.K. Someday we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs and.’ ‘Live off the fatta the land’ Lennie shouted!”(Page 14) Talking about the dream gives Lennie some “reset” button, which sets his mood back to his cheerful self. Following the short journey of George and Lennie often involves talk about the American Dream, which ends with George losing his temper. Lennie has talked about leaving, but George wants him to stay. The relationship with Lennie is a vital factor for the dream. The significance of this is that Lennie is constantly a burden to the dream and has no way contributed to it. George needed Lennie in the idea but stated that he could make it without Lennie. Nevertheless, everything George does for Lennie is for the sake of this illusion to become a reality, even if George gets no reward. Also, George has shown that trouble follows this idea and can cause an additional problem. Candy is one of the people who has joined George. “They fell silent. They looked at one another, amazed. This thing they never really believed in was coming true.” (Page 60). No longer a hallucination, George has inspired Lennie and Candy to the point where they will follow him to the end of the world.

George is one of people in the ranch that had big goals to achieve, but he couldn’t accomplish any of them because of Lennie. George taking care of Lennie affects his dreams in a big way because every time George gets closer to his dreams Lennie completely ruins it. In the story it states George saying “ dumb bastard likes to touch everything he likes”(steinbeck 41). This is very important because this shows how childish lennie acts. The most important thing to him was to have dreams to have a farm and his own place with Lennie. This quote “ we got a future “ (Pg . 14) shows that he had a dream worth living for. Another way George had gotten his dreams taken away was when Lennie killed their boss’s wife. I know that George was a very lonely person because in the story he talks about guys like him in the ranch . “ guys like us , that work on a ranch are the loneliest guys in the world” (Pg . 13). This is very important because it shows his feelings towards being lonely.

He gets his freedom, and he gets to ruin himself, and own a few acers. Lastly, to Candy, the dream is for him to be able to work the garden, and to live in a relaxed environment because he thinks that soon, the boss will let him go. A quote from the story to show how much Lenny likes hearing their American Dream is , and to show how important the American Dream means to him is “’Tell me like you done before.’ ‘Tell you what?’ ‘About the Rabbits’ George snapped ‘You ain’t gonna put nothing over me.’ Lennie pleaded ‘Come on George. Tell me. Please George. Like you done before’” (pg 13). This quote from the story shows how much Lennie believed in the dream. His mental disability made him act a lot younger than his actual age, he dreams a lot and can easily be tricked by what people say. He is very fragile and short tempered, like a young child can be. But also like a child, he believes in dreams, he still has the innocence and pureness, which causes him to have faith, and trust in the dream. A quote that shows that George is believes in the American Dream is “Maybe you’re gettin’ better. When we get a coupla acres I

The most important dream in this novel is that of the two main characters Lennie and George. They

Right from the start of the novel, Lennie and George’s dream was made very clear to the reader. Their dream was to save money to buy their own ranch. They never accomplished this dream because George spent a lot of money on gambling and alcohol. Whereas Lennie was childlike and money or anything else did not bother him at all.

Evidentially, George does not believe the dream will ever become reality as he rhythmically reels off the words to Lennie as a matter of habit rather than optimism. That said, it is clear that although George does not believe the dream will come true he is thankful to have Lennie by his side ‘somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us’ which perhaps implies that although Steinbeck presents the pair as victims, he also presents them as lucky in the fact that they have each other and care for each other enough to build a firm relationship. To Lennie the dream is all about the rabbits he intends to keep and pet, rather than an engine of hope which drives George to continue the struggle. Lennie excites in the idea that one day he will own a rabbit hutch ‘An’ have rabbits’ because he is unable to see further than his own desires, however George dreams of simplicities such as ‘how thick the cream is on the milk’ implying that all he would like is a stable home. Regardless of their differences in the importance of aspects included in the dream, their dream bonds them together in a shared goal which is to get a ‘stake’ so they can buy ‘a little house and a couple of acres.’ Many migrant workers shared in dreaming of a better future but had nobody to share it with as everyman was for himself, making George and Lennie’s relationship a rare occurrence.

EE: Lennie is a symbol of that dream because he pushes George to believe that one day they will be able to own their own land. Lennie asks multiple times to hear the story of the farm as if he’s helping George to imagine the farm himself. E: While sitting by the river near the brushes, Lennie says to George “ Tell me- like you done before. ”(13)

Steinbeck gives the view that dreams are what keeps people going and gives them reason to continue on in life. Both George and Lennie have a running dream of owning a farm with crops and animals, for this dream is the one that keeps them working and trying to obtain it. George is more focused on just being able to stake a claim and be his own boss and not have to work for others whereas Lennie just wants nothing more than to tend to the rabbits and pet them. Steinbeck strengthens both Georges and Lennie’s dreams when he states, “O.K. Someday - we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple

She tries to accomplish her dream by talking to people, who probably don't want to talk to her. Third, Lennie has a dream of taking care of the rabbits at their possible future estate. He tries to accomplish this dream by being good to the puppy, because George told him he could take care of the rabbits if he takes good care of the puppy.

In certain instances George and Lennie's “American Dream” is being used as a literal dream for Lennie, their are points where it's told to Lennie as a bedtime story to keep the idea alive and his mentality to work still relevant. In the quote George tells there Dream plan as a way to entertain and keep Lennie's Hopes up. ““O.K. Someday—we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs and——”“An’ live off the fatta the lan’,” Lennie shouted. “An’ have rabbits.”” (Steinbeck 107).

The idea of the dream grows and gains credibility. Whenever a character talks about the dream, another character warms to the idea, and when two characters talk about the dream, a third character, who was previously sceptical, accepts it. This is seen whenever Lennie asks George about the dream, as George talks about it, both his and Lennie’s faith in the dream is strengthened. Also, when Crooks hears about the dream from Lennie, he is doubtful at first but slowly starts to believe, when someone as experienced as Candy joins the conversation and shows how strongly he believes in the dream, Crooks is convinced that the dream is possible. This shows that the dream is so powerful, that even characters who have been hardened by years of reality or have just suffered a setback, are convinced that the dream is a reality.

George talks of some unheard dream farm that even Candy held suspicion over. It may be a common dream of many, even George and Lennie’s work friends, it just takes the blind believers to actually chase such an intangible

Then George shoots him sending him to the farm. George and Lennie’s dream represented more than just a farm. It represents after all the difficult times, and hard work  they will finally get to that happy peaceful place where they can be free. When George shoots Lennie he sends Lennie there leaving himself in a cruel world without