Women in the 1930’s were treated like second-class citizens (not allowed to vote or look for jobs). They had no-one to talk to and felt very lonely. At this time, cinemas had become very popular in America. People with normal quiet lives believed that they could become actors/actresses and believed everything people told them about their acting. America was not fully developed at the time and had a lot of free land/landscape. A lot of people might see the land and start working towards owning the land. That piece of land becomes their dream.
George and Lennie are perhaps the most important characters in the book because it is from them that we notice the relevance of dreams to people in the time. George (when compared to Lennie) was a small man. He had restless eyes and was looking everywhere
“…was small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes…” he did not trust anyone he worked with. George was Lennie’s friend. He has been taking care of Lennie since his Aunt Clara died.
“When his Aunt Clara died, Lennie just come along with me out workin’.”
Lennie on the other hand is handicapped (he has the mind of a child). He is very strong “… strong as a bull” and he does not know the limit of his strength. He likes soft things (the problem they had at weed causing them to lose their jobs and one of the causes of his death). The dreams of George and Lennie are almost the same because they both want a farm but they do not want it for the same reason; George wants the dream to keep Lennie from getting into trouble and getting himself and George killed. He also wants the farm so he would have to stop moving around to look for jobs.
“An it’d be our own, an’ nobody could can us …” Lennie, on the other hand, wanted the farm so he could tend the rabbits.
“An’ have the rabbits… we’re gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages…” His continuous mention of rabbits gives the idea that his only care is for soft things (rabbits and puppies). Each dream is important to them because it gives them an understanding because they have come together to do the same thing and it provides George with the power to take care of Lennie and watch everything that he is doing so he doesn’t get into trouble. The fact that Lennie is always getting them into trouble and George always has to make things right for them
“So I comes running, an’ by that time Lennie’s got scared… I socked him over the head with a fence picket to make him let go…”this makes George want to establish the farm so he could keep Lennie in a safe place, where he wouldn’t get harmed.
Candy is another character in the book that helps us to understand the importance of dreams. He is old and has lost a hand. He has just witnessed the death of his dog (a life long friend) and feels he would soon be sacked from the ranch because he is not useful
“When they can me here I wisht somebody’d shoot me… I won’t have no place to go, an’ I can’t get no more jobs…” He wants the farm because he knows there; he will not be able to get sacked because he is old and crippled. He gets involved in the dream of George and Lennie by giving them his money that he had been saving from his injury and his savings (monthly wages).
“…they give me two hundred an’ fifty dollars cos’ of my hand. An’ I have got fifty more saved right up in the bank…fifty more comin’ the end a the month.” He also offers to give George and Lennie the money after he dies, “I’d make a will an’ leave my share to you guys in case I kick off…” he knows this is an offer that George cannot refuse.
Towards the end of the book when Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife, we find out that the dream meant a lot to Candy. The only way of him escaping from the ranch had been tarnished and destroyed because of Curley’s wife. He blamed everything on her,
“You done it, di’n’t u? I s’pose you’re glad. Ever’body knowed you’d mess things up. You wasn’t no good…” Candy is very sad and feels he should be killed to.
Crooks’ is another man who shared the farm dream for a certain time. At first, he isn’t convinced that George, Lennie and Candy could fulfil the dream. He compares them with other people who had dreams of owning a farm.
“I see hundred of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches …; an’ every damn one of ‘em got a little piece of land in his head. An’ never God damn one of ‘em ever gets it.” He believes Lennie is crazy. Notice that unlike the other workers, Crooks job is stable and secure. When Candy comes in and starts talking about the dream and how they have most of the money for the dream, he changes his mind and wants to be a part of it
“…want a hand to work for nothing-just his keep, why I’d come an’ lend a hand. I ain’t so crippled I can’t work like a son-of-a-bitch if I want to”. And because of this, his confidence has built up and feels he can do anything. Curley’s wife comes in into the scene and reduces Crooks’ confidence by saying she is going to put him into trouble. She feels she is better than him because of his colour.
“Well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on the tree so easy it ain’t even funny”
And this makes Crooks lose all hope of becoming a part of the dream because he thinks that is the way George and Lennie will possibly treat him when he works on the farm.
“…well jus’ forget it, ‘I didn’t mean it. Jus’ foolin’. I wouldn’t want to go no place like that”. Notice what Crooks says about people having dreams but not being able to fulfil them, he knows that people have other priorities and problems and the dream only remains a dream. This reflects on what Lennie does and how the dream is destroyed.
Curley’s wife also had a dream but her dream was unlike the other characters that had dreams. Her dream was to become a famous actress and be in the cinemas, and she believes everything other people tell her about her talent
“Coulda been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes…an’ had pitchers taken of me…” She confessed to Lennie that she did not like her husband Curley and that she just married him to get away from her boring life because she thought getting married would provide new experiences for her
“So I married Curley. Met him out to the Riverside Dance Palace that same night”. She has this dream because the people in the movies had a life of glamour and she wanted to live like that. She also has this dream because she is not treated fairly on the ranch and has no-one to talk to (apart from Curley)
“Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody? Whatta they think I am, anyways? ...”
So because of this, she is always seeking attention in the wrong places which eventually lead to her death. Her dream was shattered when she let Lennie stroke her hair. In death, she look very peaceful unlike when she was alive and had problems.
The characters of the book “Of Mice and Men” have dreams at some time of their life. They have these dreams so as to escape the hardship of life in the 1930’s.They also had dreams for the urge for something good that could make them feel very good about themselves.
Some of the dreams maybe were not meant to come true (Curleys wife’s dream) but we come to see how close George and Lennie come to achieving theirs. If Curley’s wife didn’t seek for attention and Lennie did not have the fascination for soft things, they would have had the chance to have another way of life.
