Discuss the importance of dreams in Of Mice and Men

Crooks is rejected because he is a Negro.  Racism was rife in 1930s America and Negros were the unwanted surplus of American society.  Steinbeck shows the reader how Crooks has adapted to protect himself from hurt.  Unlike other characters, Crooks considers what can go wrong first before he starts to believe a dream can come true, “I see hundreds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches with their bindles in their back an’ that same damn thing in their heads”  Crooks has been hurt in the past.  He knows the realities of life in 1930s America.  The result of not having a dream reflects in the way in which he lives his life.  Unlike Lennie, George, Candy and Curley’s wife, Crooks has no incentive in life.  Crooks is content to stay in his lodging away from the rest of the world.  Although he is not progressing in life; he is not digressing.  But given the opportunity he also clings on to Lennie, George and Candy’s dream.   This shows that although he does not dream, he has longings and desires. Steinbeck reveals this through use of nostalgic language, in Crooks’ desire to re-experience the feeling of equality he felt when he was a child, “The white kids came to play at our place, an’ sometimes I went to play with them.” Crooks dreams of equality, this is evident in the books he reads; in particular the Californian Civil Code. He longs for a civilisation where he can be treated equally. For Crooks, his desire for equality dominates his life as dreams dominate the lives of the other outcasts.  

Candy is discriminated against because he is old and useless.  In an environment where respect is earned through physical competence, Candy has no respect from his fellow ranch workers.  However, the most painful thing for Candy is the feeling of not belonging and lack of purpose.   He has these feelings because he is old and has lived most of his life; he has left no mark on the world.  Other workers, younger workers, like Whit, have dreams of making a mark on the world as Candy probably had when he was younger.  Whit displays admiration for a former ranch worker he reads about in a magazine who has had a letter published in that magazine.  Whit dreams of making a mark on the world and has not even considered the misery that will overcome him if he does not.   Steinbeck uses juxtaposition to illustrate to the reader how little respect Candy receives from his fellow workers. Candy could not kill his dog; he is his only companion and he has owned and loved him for years, “No, I couldn’t do that.  I had ‘im for too long.”  Candy desperately wants to save his dog here, but the other workers at the ranch do not respect him enough to comply with his wishes.  The contrast between Candy’s desperation and the other worker’s casual dismissal of this desperation highlights how little respect Candy receives from his fellow workers.  For this reason Candy quickly catches on to Lennie and George’s dream. He has money in the bank, as a result of his compensation for his lost hand, and feels that the dream can come true with their money combined. His dream is his incentive in life; he carries on with his insignificant swamping at the ranch because it is the only thing he can do. If George, Lennie and Candy can somehow make this dream maintainable he can live the rest of his life happily.

As a woman Curley’s wife is isolated as women were not equal to men in 1930s America.  She is deprived of many things men have: companionship, power and acknowledgement.  She dreams of having all these things.  But she differs from the other outcasts because she has no hope of achieving her dream.  What she believed to be her only shot at achieving her dream has gone.  Furthermore she is trapped in a marriage with a callous man who she despises.  In fact if it were up to her husband she would remain indoors all day.  The men do not like her because they see her as a ‘tart’ and a threat. She could get them ‘canned’, “I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her.”  George discriminates against her because she is a woman.  He makes the assumption that any woman in a male lodging is trouble.  Through George’s damning reaction to Curley’s wife Steinbeck shows the reader how she will never achieve her dream.  She has no power because she is a woman.  She only has power over Crooks because he is a Negro, “You know what I can do if you open your trap?”  Steinbeck’s presentation of the situation would suggest she is using Crooks as a scapegoat to disburse her frustrations.  And she is indeed because Crooks is trying to defend his room from what he sees as an invasion of his territory, “You got no rights comin’ in a colored man’s room.”  Curley’s wife may have been scornful, but Crooks was equally insensitive to her.  She is never acknowledged, her true name is not mentioned, and therefore Crooks’ comment made her turn on him like a whiplash because he is the only one on the ranch over whom she has any power or authority.  It is ironic how the death of the forgotten outcast brings about the end of all the other outcasts’ dreams.

To conclude, dreams are important in the novella because they are the only thing the outcasts can cling on to.  They are discriminated against to the extent that they cannot achieve success; they are doomed to failure.  Even their dreams, the only means by which they can escape the monotony of 1930s America, are destroyed by their compromised circumstances.  Steinbeck shows the reader how important dreams are for the poor.  Only the poor that have a dream can live their lives with their dream as an incentive.  Steinbeck sums up the injustice of 1930s America at the end of the novella.  Curley’s dream of killing Lennie comes true, it is an evil dream and it is the only one in the novella that comes true; the dream of one man with a little power and authority over the dreams of all the poor. (Although Crooks’ dream of equality does become true it is a long time after the novella is written, and he does not experience this so it can be said that his dream did not come true)  Through the dreams of the poor Steinbeck conveys many things that were wrong with 1930s America.