The Importance Of 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.

In Of Mice and Men, the hopes and dreams of the men on the ranch are a continuous focus and theme throughout the novel. John Steinbeck portrays the effects that dreams, or lack of them, have on the lives of the characters and the outcome of the novel. Steinbeck uses the concept of dreams at once to show hope and aspiration, as they invoke companionship with united determination for a better future, and to illustrate the difficulties of survival, with unrealised dreams illuminating the dark despair of society at that time.

“The best-laid schemes o’ mice an' men / Gang aft agley” – Robert Burns. In other words, “The best-laid plans of mice and men / Often go awry”. It is believed that John Steinbeck took the title of his novel “Of Mice and Men” from this stanza from the Scots poem “To a Mouse”. The title of this novel reveals much about the story because it speaks of the plans or dreams that everyone, even mice, have. In fact, in the novel "Of Mice and Men," one of the main themes is "dreams."

During the Great Depression, many people relied on their dreams to keep them going through hard times. More than half of men in the U.S. did not have enough money to support their families. Similarly, in John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, George Milton struggles to support himself and his companion, Lennie Small. In Steinbeck’s novel, George Milton and Lennie Small labor on farms to earn money for “a place of their own” with “colorful rabbits.” This dream keeps George and Lennie focused on a future happiness, despite society’s cruel rejection of Lennie.

Dreams are futile fantasies because dreams are high expectations of what we want in our lives, which we rarely end up achieving. Our hopes and aspirations make us believe that we have the ability to fulfill our dreams, although many frequently tend to fall short. Steinbeck uses dreams for comfort to help the characters in Of Mice and Men move on from their simple lives. George and Lennie’s, Curley’s wife’s, and Crooks’s dreams are their interpretations of what a wonderful life would contain, although none of them have the ability to achieve their dreams. Crooks’s dream is to become a part of a community where he can be accepted. Curley’s wife dreams of becoming an actress and gaining money for “valuable” items in life. George and Lennie’s dream is to own a farm and live on their own, this would create joy and gratefulness in their lives. Through these examples, Steinbeck demonstrates to the reader that dreams give us false hope for ideas that are unachievable.

Everyone has dreams. Weather they are big or small, achievable or insane, everyone has dreams. In Of Mice and Men, dreams play a huge part of the story. George and Lennie had a dream to get a ranch and live off the crops and animals they would have. Curley’s wife’s dream is far from what she got in life. Dreams play a huge significance in lives, weather it’s their motivation, spirit, or how it changes them.

“To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe” (“ Dreams Quotes”). The saying in this quote is that one must dream ,but also believe that is what Lennie, George, and Crooks did. For Lennie, George, and Crooks their dreams were harder to reach. Dreams affect the characters of of Mice and Men through Lennie causing trouble, George choosing to care for Lennie, and Crooks being limited by being African American.

In the novel Of Mice and Men, characters rely on their hope of someday achieving their dreams in order to have a better life. Steinbeck tries to show the readers that once you dream of something, and expand on that dream, it will become more destined to not come true. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the characters give in to temptations such as flirting, touching soft things, and spending money, all of which cause problems when they are trying to attain their overall dreams.

In the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’, Steinbeck used an array of characters to convey that dreams could never be achieved in the post Depression era. Following the Wall street crash, every American dreamt of having a land of his own and being self -sufficient. Steinbeck showed that dreams served as a driving force for person’s life. In section 1, Steinbeck was trying to show that people wanted less work and more time for themselves.

There is a question that has plagued me for quite some time, not just because of what we are reading, but in life as well. Are we working to live or living to work? Everyone was either jut working from job to job in the book, or they were just working the days away. Then what was the point of Dreams?

The ending results of having aspirations and imagination are either happiness and success or failure and frustration. John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men sets in Salinas, California during the 1930s and centers around two men, George, the leader and Lennie, the follower with a mental disability. George and Lennie are on a mission to accomplish their dream which is to own a ranch. When pursuing their dream, they encounter conflicts along the way. The theme of one of the presented topics is hopes and dreams because, hopes and dreams can be in a cycle if the same action occurs again, there is a positive outlook, and a negative outlook.

Do you have hopes and dreams? The book, “Of Mice and Men” uses three important themes in the story, dreams, friendship, violence. It shows you that dreams don’t always go as planned.

All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.-T.E Lawrence. The Novel Of Mice And Men, written by John Steinbeck is about how the bigger the dream, the harder to reach it. In the novel the two main characters Lennie and George are working men during the Great Depression who formed their own family and travel and look for work. Together they travel because Lennie although a grown man has a mind of a child and behaviors that limit them from reaching their dream of owning their own farm one day. Steinbeck uses setting and the characters

Vast numbers of characters which their dreams were expressed in the novel each have their own unique and exuberant visions of their future. All of their hopes and imagination have motivated them to keep on working on their dreams a complete. If this hard work is not included into achieving this dream, it is likely the dream that you image will not succeed or be accomplished. Unfortunately, for Lennie,Crooks,and Candy their wishes of the future has been squash by reality even though they put their best effort to achieve theses goals but the harsh reality thought otherwise. But that does not mean that we have to stop trying our best to achieve something.It is better to try than not trying at all if you don't even try you might not know your

Freedom and contentment are constantly endeavored by American citizens. The truth about America in the 1930s can be found through the rigorous representation by John Steinbeck. Of Mice and Men details the realities of struggling Americans during the Great Depression, as their ambitions for their aspirations are deprived. This piece of literature presents two main characters, George and Lennie, having a dream but never obtaining it. The American Dream is established multiple times within Steinbeck’s novella. George and Lennie, Crooks, and Curley’s wife strive to reach their American Dream under difficult circumstances.