The Importance of Hopes and Dreams in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a touching story of an unusual friendship between two men, George and Lennie. George is a responsible man and has travelled with Lennie for many years, despite the troubles that Lennie gets them both in. George and Lennie’s dream is to be the owners of a little farm. This is the their goal and this is in my opinion, the whole meaning of the story. There are frequent sections in the book where George starts their story of how they plan to live on the farm and Lennie finishes George’s sentences. “One day – 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.” To …show more content…
Each desires the comfort of a friend, but will settle for the attentive ear of a stranger. They admit to complete strangers their fear of being cast off which shows their desperation. The characters George, Lennie, Crooks, and Curley’s wife are rendered helpless by their isolation, and yet, even at their weakest, they seek to destroy those who are even weaker than they. Perhaps the most powerful example of this cruel tendency is when Crooks criticizes Lennie’s dream of the farm and his dependence on George. Having just admitted his own vulnerabilities – he is a black man with a crooked back who longs for companionship. Steinbeck explores different types of strength and weakness throughout the novel. Great physical strength is valuable to men in George and Lennie’s circumstances. Lennie’s has strength beyond his control –like when he killed the mice. Curley too, he is the symbol of authority on the ranch and a champion boxer, who intimidates men and his wife. But even the most visible strength – used to oppress others- is itself born of weakness. Much of the novel is about dreams and we can relate this story to the poem called “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns that assumed that the dreams aren’t always achievable just like the American Dream. Most of the characters in Of Mice and Men admit, at one point or another, to dreaming of a different life. Curley’s wife confessed her wish to become a movie star, just before her death. Crooks, harsh as he
The character I choose to analyze for this story is Lennie. Lennie is a nice, huge man who always follows his beloved friend, Gorge, everywhere. The personality of Lennie is of a young kid who conveys the reader with the feeling of innocence and liveliness. Lennie is one of the most important characters in this story. The existence of Lennie has inspired hope to other characters in many different ways. For example, because of Lennie, George and Candy have hope for their secure future; because of Lennie, Crooks and Curley’s wife can have someone to talk to and not being discriminated by their race or gender, and because of Lennie, the reader can laugh and smile at his innocent, yet adorable character, despite the lonely theme of this story about migrant
The story Mice and Men is about two men named George and Lennie. They go through rough times together and always keep each other out of trouble, but make trouble together at the same time. They find work at a ranch where they meet new characters and situations.
Most of the characters in Of Mice and Men admit, at one point or another, to dreaming of a different life.
John Stienbeck’s novel “Of Mice and Men” is about the death of the American dream. George, Lennie and Candy’s dream is to own their own piece of land to work and live independently on. This dream is destroyed by Lennie’s ignorance and Lennie’s strength, which he cannot control. Curley’s wife’s dream is to be a famous Hollywood actress. Her dream is destroyed by her marriage to Curley and the Hollywood director who promised to contact her about her acting career but never has. Crook’s dream is for equality. Racism and the attitudes of others destroy this dream.
Picking up the book “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck holds a different feel then putting it down. Leaving the reader pondering the true theme of the story. A tale among two friends is the mindset most would assume before reading the book but digging deeper you start to realize the dark truth. The story starts with both Lenny who’s large and unaware of his own true strength and George who’s skinny and quick witted. The tale takes both characters and presents them with challenges. Lennie has a mild mental disability which often leads both of them into a lot of trouble. While George must take care of Lennie and always get him out of trouble. Two characters who travel together would be envisioned to be best pals but what awaits them is a rude awakening, George says “Lennie just come along with me out workin '. Got kinda used to each other after a little while” (Steinbeck 3.12).
Of Mice and Men is a story written by John Steinbeck. The book is about two migrant workers named George and Lennie. George is mentally stronger than Lennie and Lennie has the mind of a child. John Steinbeck is successful when making Lennie sympathetic when showing that Lennie is loyal and caring because of his dialogue and actions.
Most of the characters in Of Mice and Men admit, at one point or another, to dreaming of a different life. For example, before Curley’s wife death, she confesses her desire to be a movie star. Also, Crooks allows himself the pleasant fantasy of hoeing a patch of garden on Lennie’s farm one day, and Candy latches on desperately to George’s vision of owning a couple of acres. Before the action of the story begins, circumstances have robbed most of the characters of these wishes. Curley’s wife, for instance, she has resigned herself to an unfulfilling marriage. What makes all of these dreams typically American is that the dreamers wish for untarnished happiness and the freedom to follow their own desires.
To begin with in the story of mice and men the majority of the characters of Dream about having a different and better life. Curley 's wife‘s vision was to become a huge movie star and be famous. "I tell you I ain 't used to livin ' like this. I coulda made somethin ' of myself." She said darkly, "Maybe I will yet." And then her words tumbled out in a passion of communication,
In today’s world, we have come to see that trial, error, pain, and the striving for living a glamorous life are common; we all know it’s an exhausting task. Everybody seems to “go through the motions” at one point or another; we all seem to have this point in life where everything seems like a black hole that’s going nowhere. In the book, Of Mice and Men, and play Death of a Salesman, we see this is common, among many other similarities. However, no story is ever the same between two people’s lives, and this is also shown in these two works of literature.
“Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck is novella that follows the relationship between George and Lennie. George and Lennie are a traveling pair of workers which is unusual in the setting of the novella for most men work alone. In the beginning of the book, the two are turning a new leaf by getting a new job on a farm where they meet other workers like Slim, Curly, Carlson and etc. At the end of the book, the workers are on a manhunt for Lennie when they find his dead body and George near a clearing. Slim leads George away while Carlson looks at the two wondering what is wrong with them. What really bothers the two men is the loss of George’s companion which leaves him isolated like everyone else in the novella.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is about two men, George and Lennie who travel from ranch to ranch hoping to make enough money to buy their own land. Buying the land is what George and Lennie talk about constantly, this is in fact their American Dream. They have recently left a town called Weed because of an incident that happened there and are now heading to Soledad to work on another ranch. John Steinbeck was successful in making Lennie a sympathetic character because he portrays Lennie as a big strong muscular man that has basically no brain, so he doesn’t really know his own strength so when he hurts someone or does something bad you can’t really blame him.
George and Lennie are the best of friends and help each other in any crisis but when fate takes a turn and causes Lennie to do a horrible deed, George has to make a difficult decision which could change their lives forever. In the classic novel, “Of Mice and Men”, John Steinbeck shows how life was in the 1930’s. In the novela, many of the characters are treated disrespectfully and face many difficult problems that people today would not even think of having today. There are three unfortunate characters, Crooks, Curley’s wife, and Lennie, who are treated differently because of either their race, gender, or just because they have a mental disability.
"Of Mice and Men" is a book about two men and their struggle to achieve their dream of owning a small ranch through their companionship. The two men are completely different, one being a retarded fellow (Lennie), and the other, a typical ranch hand(George) who travels with him. On the path to achieving their dream, they run into obstacles, but stick together, stressing the importance of true friendship. Steinbeck wrote this book to tell us how important it is to have a friend to share your life with.
Motifs, which are repeated in the novel, are loneliness, friendship, strength and weakness. Men like George who migrate from farm to farm are often alone. As the story develops, Candy, Crooks, and Curley's wife all confess their deep loneliness. Each of these characters searches for a friend, someone to help them measure the world, as Crooks says. For George, the hope of such friendship dies with Lennie.
Of Mice and Men is a novella written by John Steinbeck. The book is about two men named Lennie and George. It tells a story of how the two men live, travel and work together. They are ranch workers who travel around looking for ranch jobs during the great depression. George, a smart man, and Lennie a big, strong man, but limited in his mental capabilities work in tandem to support each other. They have this dream about owning their own ranch, with their own animals, and their own land.