Of Mice and MenHopes and dreams are important

to discussBy Sarah Wakeley & Mahjuz Lashkor

George and Lennie’s Dream

George and Lennie share a dream - to own a little patch of land and live on it in freedom. He is so set on the idea that he even knows of some land that he thinks they could buy. In the book they repeatedly talk about their dream “Someday-we’re gonna get a jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres and a cow and some pigs and-” No one thought that their dream would come true but Lennie and George believed that they could make it come true because they had each other. This was during the time of the ‘Great Depression’ so this was unlikely to happen. Lots of men on ranches had the same dream but none could ever make it come true, most of these men came to America chasing the ‘American Dream’( They go to America to escape poverty and to make their fortunes)

Lennie’s dream

Lennie wants to have land with George but he is more interested in having the rabbits. George says “Someday-we’re gonna get a jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres and a cow and some pigs and-” and Lennie adds in “An’ live of the fatta the lan’,” Lennie shouted. “An’ have rabbits.” This quote shows Lennie’s simplicity, all he wants to do is tend the rabbits, this shows how child like he is. Because he’s like a child he looks up to George and wants to stay with him, as he’s known George from when they were young. So Lennie trusts him.

George’s dream

George’s dream would be to settle down and have a wife, but he has Lennie instead. “ If I was alone I could live so easy. I could get a job an’ work, an’ no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come, I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get what ever I wanted.” This shows how caring George is because he talks about how easy life would be without Lennie, yet he chooses to stay with him. This again contributes to the idea that Lennie is childlike so he needs someone to look after him.

Curley’s wife’s dream

She dreams of being a movie star. Her hopes were raised by a man who claimed he would take her to Hollywood, but when she didn't receive a letter from him, she married Curley. She talks to Lennie about her dream “Nother time I met a guy, and he was in the pitchers. We went out to the riverside dance palace with him. He said he’s gonna put me in the movies. Says I was a natural. Soon’s he got back to Hollywood he was gonna write to me about it.” This shows how ambitious she is but when her dreams were ruined she married Curley and is now feeling lonely so she talks to Lennie about her dreams even though she knows that he’s not really paying attention to her.

Candy’s dream

Candy joins George and Lennie's plan of owning a piece of land. In chapter 3 lennie and George talk about their dream. Candy overhears them and offers to help them pay for it. They agree to tell no one. Candy’s quite old and can’t work on the ranch forever so once he finds an opportunity he has to take it. “They’ll can me purty soon. Jus’ as soon as I can’t swamp out no bunk houses and they’ll put me on the country. Maybe if I give you guys my money, you’ll let me hoe in the garden even after I ain’t no good at it.” His savings make the dream actually possible to achieve. He is very disappointed when he finds out the dream is not possible because he’s not going to have anywhere to go when the ranch is done with him.

Crooks’ dream

Crooks dreams of being seen as equal to everyone else. “My old man had a chicken ranch, ‘bout ten acres. The white kids came out to play at our place, an’ some of them was pretty nice.” “There wasn’t another coloured family for miles around. And there ain’t a coloured man on this ranch an’ there’s jus’ one family in Soledad.” He knows his civil rights. He remembers fondly his childhood, when he played with white children who came to his family's chicken ranch, and longs for a similar relationship with white people again but can’t while he’s on the ranch, and now that he’s older he understands why people treat him differently.

Lennie goes into Crooks’ room. Crook senses he has power over Lennie and tries to persuades him that George isn’t coming back. When it looks like Lennie’s getting angry , Crooks backs off. Crooks is trying to show Lennie what it’s like to be lonely and have no one to look after him, but Lennie takes it seriously and thinks that George isn’t coming back. He then tries to reassure himself by saying George will come back.

Curley’s dream

Curley dreams of being big this is why he hates big guys. Candy say “He hates big guy. He’s alla time picking scraps with big guy’s. Kind of like he’s mad at ‘em because he ain’t a big guy.” He likes to show off by getting in to fights because he’s good with his fists “Curley’s pretty handy. He done quite a bit in the ring.”, “he’s a lightweight, and he’s handy.” He picks on bigger people, because if he wins he proves that he’s a tough guy, but if he loses big guy gets blamed and told to pick on someone his own size, by doing this he is showing off. “Maybe he’s showin’ off fer his wife”. He sees his wife as a possession, and is very protective of her, that’s why he’s always looking for her. “ Well, that glove’s fulla Vaseline.” and “Well, I tell ya what – Curley says he’s keepin’ that hand soft for his wife.” One reason he does this is because he hits his wife and he doesn’t want the bruising to show. He is trying to keep control of her and make him self look big.

Why are dreams important?

Dream were very important at this specific time because of the ‘Great Depression’, it was something that would keep people going and give them hope. All the immigrant workers that came to America, came looking for the ‘American Dream.’ They came to America believing that the streets were paved with gold, and everything was perfect. But they soon came to believe that it wasn’t all it seemed. There was no jobs and if they did get a job they would have terrible pay and minimal living conditions.