The Role Of Dreams In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

The reason they are running away, looking for a place to stay is because Lennie grabbed a woman’s soft dress and wouldn’t let go. They had to run away so they wouldn’t get in trouble from the incident. Lennie says, “ An’ have rabbits. Go on George! Tell me what we’re gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages about the rain in the winter and the stove, and how the cream is on the milk like you can hardly cut it” (Steinbeck 14). Lennie is explaining what their dream farm will be like. As he explains the farm, you can tell how excited he gets talking about it. As the story moves on, George makes Lennie’s dream unreachable. Steinbeck explains, “Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand, and he lay without quivering” (Steinbeck 106). George shoots Lennie in the back of the head because he killed Curley’s wife. Curley was mad at Lennie and wanted to kill him but as his friend, George did it so it would be less painful. Steinbeck uses Lennie to prove the failure of the American Dream.

George and Lennie believe they can achieve their American dream because “‘I [George] got you [Lennie] to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why.’” (Steinbeck 14). They feel like they can rely on each other and their friendship and loyalty prevent them from isolating themselves. Their presence on that ranch even changed the people around them because they were accepting of the outcasts. Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s wife all open up to them about the isolation and loneliness they feel. Candy asks George if he can join them on their dream of owning their own property. George says he will consider it but eventually denies the offer when the body of Curley's wife is found, because he realizes the dream of owning a farm with Lennie is dead. As Peter Lisca states in his article, “On Of Mice and Men” from The American Dream, “The dream of the farm originates with Lennie and it is only through Lennie, who also makes the dream impossible, that the dream has any meaning for George.” While it is clear that Lennie needs George, George needs Lennie too. Without Lennie, George loses his sense of purpose and is likely to isolate himself like all the other ranchers. The strong bond between the two of them serve to contrast the economic and social conditions at the

For the longest time they had both talked about their desire to become landowners and to grow their own crops. All Lennie wanted was to grow alfalfa to feel to his rabbits. Their shared dreams being out of reach is apparent to the reader until Candy comes into the picture. Candy, a hardworking ranch handyman comes in with a full-fledged proposal. He offers them all of the money he saved up to fund a bit of land George and Lennie had their eyes on. In return, he would like to live on the land with them. They all agree that this is what they will do and not to let anyone know. Lennie destroys this dream by accidentally crushing Curley’s wife’s spine. George, Lennie, and Candy’s dream fails to become reality because of Lennie’s ignorance and strength.

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 and Lennie's dream of owning land is unattainable, due to Lennie's lack of understanding of his own strength. This is proven when George finds out that Lennie has killed Curley's wife by snapping her neck accidentally,"-I think I knowed from the very first. I think I knowed we'd never do her. He us like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would" (107). This portrays George thinking and contemplating about his dream and making the conclusion that he will never own a piece of land. Lennie's careless actions causes george to shoot Lennie ultimately destroying their dream.Candy doesn't want to be lonely his whole life, so when he hears about the plan that George and Lennie are going to try to do he gets excited. But, the plans are ultimately destroyed by George shooting Lennie.. Candy believed that he was so close to getting the ‘American Dream’. However, all hope was lost after George killed Lennie. This is evident when candy asks George "Then-it's all off?" Candy asked sulkily. George didn't answer his ... question. George said, "I'll work my month an' I'll take my fifty bucks and' I'll stay all night in some lousy cat house. Or I'll

Their dream also sets George apart from the others because it means he and Lennie have a future and something to anticipate. Unlike Lennie, George does not see their dream in terms of rabbits; instead, he sees it in a practical way. Their farm will be one where they can be independent and safe and where he will not have to worry about keeping track of Lennie 's mistakes. They can be secure and in charge of their own lives. However, Lennie is the one who adds the enthusiasm because George never really believed they could swing this farm of their own. He mostly uses the story to give Lennie something to believe in for their future. Only when Candy offers

The tragedy in this ultimate display of brotherly love is that it comes too little too late. Instead of seeing the good he has in front of him all along, George doesn’t realize until the situation is out of his control just how lucky he was to have Lennie in his company. All he can really see in the future is his big dream of their own house with lots of farm land and animals to look after, living “off the fatta the lan’” with no worries or cares. This goal almost seems attainable when Candy mentions all the money he has saved up and George becomes blind-sided by the possibility of his dream coming true so much sooner than he had imagined. In this, he loses sight of what is really important to him, which is Lennie. He forgets how Lennie is and let’s go just long enough for Lennie to get himself into trouble for the very last time. This time, Lennie has actually killed a woman and done something George can’t fix for him and every hope he’s ever had goes out the window with the loss of his best friend

He is an old man who lost his best friend who was his dog and is one of the lonely people in the book who is not pleased by his life. Candy wants to join George and Lennie in their future life. ”Tell you what _s’pose i went in with you guys. ”(pg. 59)This quote comes out of Candy’s mouth, it also describes Candy’s eagerness to leave that place for good. ”You don’t know that we got our own ranch to go to, an’ our house. ”(pg. 79)This is another statement coming out of Candy’s mouth proudly. This man at this point of the book is very sure that they are getting a place to live in after they leave the ranch. The dream of Candy is already changing into a hope. “Then_it’s all off?”(pg. 95) says Candy when George tells him that he knew that Curley’s wife would get them in trouble, this is where Candy’s dream started to shatter. He already knows that him and George are not going to buy that place. This quote helps you predict that Candy’s dream did not come true like all the other characters. Other than the two characters and Candy, Curley’s wife also had her own

Lennie offers George the opportunity to lay plans, give advice, and, in general, be in charge. Without Lennie, George would be just like the other hands, but with Lennie, George has a strong sense of responsibility. Their dream also sets George apart from the others because it means he and Lennie have a future and something to anticipate. Unlike Lennie, George does not see their dream in terms of rabbits; instead, he sees it in a practical way. Their farm will be one where they can be independent and safe and where he will not have to worry about keeping track of Lennie 's mistakes. They can be secure and in charge of their own lives. However, Lennie is the one who adds the enthusiasm because George never really believed they could swing this farm of their own. He mostly uses the story to give Lennie something Lennie

In Mice and Men, John Steinbeck reveals that many characters in the novella had dreams and hopes about their future plans. Some dreams were realistic and others were not. Lennie’s and George’s dream was realistic at some point, because they had it all figured out, they just needed time. Now, that Lennie had died, George will not follow through with their dream, he just gave up on it. Dreams and goals is what keeps everyone going in life, they need something to look forward too. Through the use of characteristics and conflicts, John Steinbeck teaches readers that hopes and dreams for the future can motivate people to work hard and that we will face certain struggles while trying to reach for our goals and dreams, we just have to keep going.

gives a damn about us…. An' why? Because I got you to look after me,

Candy’s loss of his dog and joining George and Lennie’s dream of owning land shows how a shared dream can spread hope and friendship. After the death of the dog, Candy expresses a deep sense of loss. He is so empty inside. When Candy hears George and Lennie talking about owning a piece of land Candy’s emptiness begins to fill up with the idea George and Lennie share. Candy tells George, “Tell you what-. . .Spose I went in with you guys. Tha’s three hundred an’ fifty bucks I put in”. George’s reaction makes Candy spill his soul out to George. When he tells George that he would ‘make a will an’ leave his share to Lennie and George”. George and Lennie let Candy share their dream and this gives hope, later when Candy is constantly “figurin’ and figurin’” because of his excitement about the “ranch". Candy develops a friendship with

The dream farm symbolises the American Dream that Lennie and George yearn to achieve. The dream that both protagonists, George and Lennie want is to have their own piece of land, where they can grow their own crops. This dream is so desperately wanted because of the freedom given to the owners of the ranch. Background character, Candy also latches onto the vision of owning a few acres of land."They fell into a silence. They looked at one another, amazed. This thing they had never really believed in was coming true." At this point, Candy had realised that his money could make his dreams come true, as well as George and Lennie's. It seemed that money was the difference between a dream and a plan, but to Lennie on some level, it all seemed like a story.Therefore Steinbeck's use of symbolism of the dream farm is explored through the idea of the American

Dreams play a role in characters lives, and it affects the way they live throughout the story. Without dreams there is no motivation in life to succeed. Everyone's dreams and aspirations are different. George and Lennie’s dream is they are “Gonna get a little place an’ live on the fatta and lan”(p66). They are forced to leave their job because Lennie touches a girl.

George and Lennie’s dream affected candy which really made him full of life after his dog was shot. The dream of George and Lennie is to have their own land and Lennie wanted to tend the rabbits. Candy wants to help them and so he can fulfil his dream, which is to grow his own plants. In the book Of Mice And Men the roles of the dreams affects the characters from Curley's