When the tragedy of Curley’s wife occurs, Curley is not hit straight away that his wife is dead, but by the fact that he can finally get his revenge back on Lennie for him damaging Curley’s hand permanently. “I’ll kill the big son-of-a-bitch myself.” Even though his wife has just been murdered, what Curley refers Lennie to shows us that he still has height on his mind. After Lennie shatters Curley’s ego by damaging his hand, and showing him up in front of the ranch, Curley’s ego suddenly rises when he threatens to kill Lennie even though he is short of a hand, and taking the situation into his own hands. He does this to gain back his respect.
Another dream which controls someone’s life is the dream of being a Hollywood movie star. Curley’s wife, throughout the book appears to the reader as being a tease, not devoted to her husband. Near the end of the novel, we find out why she is not happy with Curley. “I coulda made somethin’ of myself.” Curley’s wife explains to Lennie what her dream was and how she ended up with Curley. “He says he was gonna put me in the movies. Says I was a natural.” Curley’s wife dreamt of being a film star, and waited to receive a promised letter, however when the letter does not turn up, Curley’s wife finds excuses for why it never arrived. She made herself believe her excuses so she would not feel like a failure. “I always thought my ol’ lady stole it.” Because Curley’s wife believed this, she wanted to get revenge. She proved her desperation for being in the pictures by taking large actions, such as running away and marrying a man she didn’t love to obtain her revenge on her mother.
“You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad.” Curley’s wife regrets her actions. This line shows us that she does not mean any harm by trying to talk to the other men on the ranch, she just innocently wants to be able to have contact with other people other than her husband. She shows her loneliness and big mistakes here. Because her dream didn’t fall into place, her life was controlled by her thoughtless actions.
“I remember about the rabbits, George.” This is the first line in the novel that the dream between George and Lennie enlightens. Lennie’s life is based on the dream he shares with George, everything he does, he thinks will affect the dream becoming his future. Because Lennie is so wrapped up in this dream, and he always thinks about it, it makes the reader wonder if this dream will be different to everyone else’s and if it will be their actual future.
We first hear the dream when Lennie demands George to describe it to him. “Lennie spoke craftily, ‘Tell me--like you done before.’” After an unessential feud with George, Lennie wants to hear their supposed future together, to reassure himself that everything was going to be alright, and that he had something to look forward to. Lennie is a very simple minded person, “Hell of a nice fella, but he ain’t bright.” George is Lennie’s idol, he’d do anything George told him to do and this shows the amount of trust Lennie has for George. John Steinbeck invokes the reader to trust, making us believe that ‘their’ dream will come true. This is due to Lennie believing the dream so much because it had come from George’s mouth.
“George’s voice became deeper. He repeated his words rhythmically” This shows us how much Lennie adores hearing George tell him of their wonderful future together. The word ‘rhythmically’ tells us that because George has said it so many times he knows it off by heart, and that every time he repeats the story, each word is exactly the same. Even though George doesn’t make much effort to describe the dream, Lennie waits on the edge for George to go into more detail like a toddler watching a Disney film, waiting to find out what will occur.
After we have heard George describe the dream to Lennie, the subject has changed. George’s mind is upon looking after Lennie, and making sure he will be safe if Lennie gets into trouble, like he has done in the recent past. However shortly after this conversation Lennie brings up the rabbits again. “Let’s have different color rabbits, George.” This shows us how important the dream is to Lennie and how much his mind is thinking about his destiny.
George also shares this dream because he wants to build a secure future for himself and Lennie; he wants to be in charge of the orders instead of being given them. However George also has a dream of his own, a life without Lennie. “God a’mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy.” “whatta I got,’ George went on furiously. ‘I got you!’” George wants independence, and the privilege to do what he wants without the constant responsibility of looking after Lennie. However George likes the life he has with Lennie around because there is no loneliness and it is full of happiness. Nevertheless, he can’t control the thoughts he has of a life without Lennie. The main dream of the story plays a part in the happiness of George as well, like a link. The dream makes Lennie happy because he looks forward to tending the rabbits, and seeing Lennie joyful brings delight to George.
Because Lennie is so dependant on the dream, he wants to hear George describe it all the time. One time when George and Lennie are getting excited over their future, they get so wrapped up in it that they forget there is another person around. The dream which has always been shared by George and Lennie alone is opened up to Candy. “Candy said, ‘You know where’s a place like that?”
Candy immediately places himself in this dream and imagines a happy place for him. He sees this as a chance to secure his future. Due to Candy’s accident, he trusts George and Lennie would not get rid of him because he thinks they would feel guilty. “S’pose I went in with you guys. Tha’s three hundred an’ fifty more bucks I’d put in. I ain’t much good, but I could cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some.” Candy needs to confirm this as quickly as he can, before anybody else does, or before anybody else finds reasons against his presence in the dream.
Once Candy is accepted into the fantasy, he also begins to think about it allot and always tries to improve it. “I got it figured out. We can make some money on them rabbits if we go about it right.” Candy and Lennie are always looking forward to the future and trying to plan everything out. George does this, however not as much as the other two. When Candy gets involved in the dream it brings more hope to it actually being their future. They start to make it happen by saving and putting together their money.
As the dream is becoming reality, towards the end of the novel the theme of dreams is very important. The theme is what John Steinbeck uses to create the atmosphere and tone at the end of the book. When Curley’s wife is discovered by Candy and George, their whole dream is shattered. “Now Candy spoke his greatest fear. ‘You an’ me can go there an’ live nice, can’t we, George? Can’t we?’ Before George answered, Candy dropped his head and looked down at the hay. He knew.” The desire and hope for them to retire with their own place, in a perfect dream had been taken away. John Steinbeck leads the reader right up to the end of the book with the thought that George and Lennie were going to fulfil their dream, and we are taken by surprise when it turns out like Crooks had said.
