Mental Dreams In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Dreams in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck A dream can be described as an ambition or the aspiration to reach a goal in life. In the novel "Of Mice and Men" John Steinbeck creates characters to have an optimistic dream. These dreams are ones which they would all like to make a reality. They all have a longing and desire to fulfil their dreams.

John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men follows the journey of two men, George Milton and Lennie Small, who struggle through the navigation of working on a ranch in California and fulfilling their dreams together during a time of financial depression. The novel begins with George and Lennie traveling through the California wilderness to get to a new ranch just south of Soledad where they are going to begin new work. They had to leave their previous jobs in a town called Weed because Lennie had caused trouble with a girl by holding on to her red dress because he wanted to feel it, and this incident spiraled into rape allegations against Lennie. As George and Lennie make their way to the new ranch, Lennie; who is a large, but simple minded man; found a dead mouse and wanted to keep it to pet because he likes soft things. George, who is more serious and protects Lennie, takes the mouse away from him because even though it’s dead, he should not be messing with it. Lennie often does not realize his strength because of his mental incapabilities and as a result, he causes a lot of trouble and harm. George finds taking care of Lennie to be taxing, but he knows that their friendship is an important bond that he does not want to be without. In order to comfort Lennie in the wilderness, George tells the story of their shared dream to own their own ranch where they can follow their own rules and live as they please. When they finally arrive at the ranch the next day, George and Lennie

“Lennie was in a panic. His face was contorted. She screamed then, and Lennie's other hand closed over her mouth and nose. "Please don't," he begged. "Oh! Please don't do that. George'll be mad." … "I don't want you to yell. You gonna get me in trouble jus' like George says you will. Now don't you do that." And she

“She struggled violently under his hands. Her feet battered on the hay and she writhed to be free; and from under Lennie’s hand came a muffled screaming. Lennie began to cry with fright. “Oh! Please don’t do none of that,” he begged. “George gonna say I done a bad thing. He ain’t gonna let me tend no rabbits.” He moved his hand a little and her hoarse cry came out. Then Lennie grew angry. “Now don’t,” he said. “I don’t want you to yell. You gonna get me in trouble jus’ like George says you will. Now don’t you do that.” And she continued to struggle, and her eyes were wild with terror. He shook her then, and he was angry with her. “Don’t you go yellin’,” he said, and he shook her; and her body flopped like a fish. And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck.”

Of Mice and Men, a novella written by John Steinbeck, is the story of two migrant workers, George Milton and Lennie Small, who dream of owning their own farm. The two men secure jobs at a ranch and soon meet a swamper named Candy and Curley’s wife. Like George and Lennie, these characters also dream of having a better life than what they can accomplish while

His mental disability had caused the dream they had created to be ruined. Curley, the man on the ranch who picks on Lennie, currently has a wife that is very isolated and lonely and loves to talk to Lennie since he is a very warm and soft loving man until she had told Lennie to feel her hair. Lennie wouldn't let go and Curley's wife was struggling to get out of Lennie's grasp. "And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck" (Steinbeck 91). This quotation explains how Lennie had ruined the dream because he had killed a woman and would be expelled from working on the ranch, leading to not making any money towards their life dream. Since George knew the dream was over, and that it wouldn't happen, he had to find Lennie. Since Curley had picked on him and had made fun of him, Curley was already after Lennie to kill. George knew this was all happening and knew he had to find Lennie before them to tell him the dream one more time before he was going to die. George had found Lennie on the creek side in the forest and told him about their dream one more time. Then George had Lennie at gunpoint. "His hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger” (Steinbeck 106). This quote from Of Mice and Men explains to the reader that Lennie had ruined their dreams once and for all since he had done terrible things to halt the dream. George had to put Lennie out of his misery since he was already going to be killed. George wanted to share their dream together one more

Steinbeck seems to emphasize that dreams are not intended to be accomplished. George and Lennie have a dream of owning a ranch . That dream is never achieved

This shows Lennie’s innocence because of his futile attempts to prevent disappointing or angering George. Lennie’s innocence foreshadows the pivotal events of the book because he doesn’t understand the effects of his actions or learns from his previous mistakes due to his disability. Such a quality like this, gives a depressing tone to the book as Lennie inevitably is pushed into dire situations with even worse consequences.

The story, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, tells the tale of two migrant workers in the early 1900s’. One worker, George Milton is the smarter, leader of the two. The other Lennie Small, is almost childlike in his mental state. He often becomes obsessed with soft things and doesn’t think things through. Steinbeck makes Lennie a sympathetic character by making you feel bad for him because he is not as smart as the others, and continuously gets himself into trouble.

Throughout this story, many times Lennie will forget something that has happened or is about to happen. George gets easily frustrated with Lennie when he is forgetful. On page 4, George says “ So you forgot that awready, did you? I gotta tell you again, do I? Jesus Christ, you’re a crazy bastard!”

A Dream can be defined in as an ideal. The American dream is to be

George knew Lennie was unstable and needed to be stopped, it was just a matter of time before he did something even worse. First, he was accused of “rape”, then, he killed the mouse he had gotten, next he killed his puppy, finally, he killed Curley’s

Isolation, Friendship, and the Dreams and plans for the future are some of the biggest themes in John Steinbeck's book, Of Mice and Men. The book is set in the 1930’s around the time of the Great Depression. During this time period, men were all looking for work to support their families or support themselves. Lennie Small and George Milton are the two main characters in this story. Most of the story takes place on a ranch in Soledad, California. Where we meet our other characters. Curley, the boss’ son. Slim, the jerkline skinner. Crooks is a crooked back man who is a stable hand. Candy, a ranch hand. Candy, an old ranch worker, who lost his hand in a farm accident. And finally Curley’s Wife, who is very flirty towards the men, especially Lennie. These characters all at some point go through some sort of Isolation, few have dreams for the future, and two have friendship for life.

Throughout Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck shows that if one attempts to achieve a dream at all costs, one may make an ill-fated choice. One should try not to devote every breathing moment to a dream or an ideal as Steinbeck shows in Of Mice and Men, Lennie would think about his actions and consequences only if it would affect his dream.

What is the importance of dreams in Of Mice and Men? What role do they play in people’s lives? How do people use dreams, and how to various characters’ dreams affect them?