With Lennie, the dreams is all about the rabbits. Lennie looks at George like a father. He follows him and listens to him. He is very respectful and protective of George. If a bad word is said about him Lennie would be the first to defend him. Lennie doesn't see the dream in the same perspective as George. Lennie would do anything George said so it doesn't matter if they work on a ranch to Lennie. The tempting part about the house is the rabbits. Lennie likes touching nice things especially rabbits. If they were to have a house of their own, George said that he would get some rabbits for Lennie to look after. Lennie can't resist this and it is ironic that this is the only thing Lennie can ever remember.
- 'I remember about the rabbits'
- 'George, how longs it gonna be till we get that little place an' live on the fatta the lan'-an rabbits'
- 'You jus' let 'em try to get the rabbits. I'll break their god damn necks'
The dream that George and Lennie had, had never been more than just a dream untill they met Candy. Candy the swamper has lost his hand. He is getting old and he knows that soon he will be no use to the men on the ranch and they will can him and he willl have nowhere to go. The dream of the house sounds great to Candy as he wont worry about being canned. He can continue working doing little jobs around the house helping out where he can. He has more money than Geoge and Lennie, (as he got paid compensation for the loss of his hand) and because of this George decides to let him go in with them on buying the house. Candy doesn't want to be useless to anyone and wants to work for as long as he can.
- 'I ain't much good with on'y one hand'.
- 'They'll can me purty soon'.
- This thing they had never really believed in was coming true.
- 'They says he wasn't no good to himself nor nobody else. When they can me I wisht somebody'd shoot me'.
- 'I won't have no place to go, an' I can't get no more jobs'.
- 'Everybody wants a little bit of land, not much. Just som'thin' that was his'.
- 'I planted crops for damn near ever'body in this state, but they wasn't my crops, and when I harvested 'em, it wasn't none of my harvest'.
Crooks, the black stable buck, dismisses their dreams and hopes saying that he has seen hundreds of men come to the ranch all with the same dream in their head of having a little piece of land. He is very pessimistic but we actually learn later on that he wouldn't mind working for them aswell. It seems that Crooks is also scared of being canned and having no where to live. Crooks has been at the ranch the longest and seen men come and go but never seen anyone live their dream.
- 'An' never a God damn one of 'em ever gets it'.
- 'Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. It's just in their head'.
- 'I never seen a guy really do it'
- 'If you...guys would want a hand to work for nothing-just his keep, why I'd come an' lend a hand'
Somone you don't expect to have dreams is Curley's wife. She tells Lennie everything one day in the barn. She tells about how she could have been a movie star in Hollywood and how her mother wouldn't let her and threw her letters away. We learn that she is actually a very upset lonely girl. She is also unhappy being married to Curley and we learn that she only married him so she could leave home because she didn't like her mother. She is quite angry at Curley and says that he is a nasty man and this is shows that she is unhappy and this is right for a married couple.
- 'I colulda made somethin' of myself. She said darkly. Maybe I will yet'.
- 'He says he was goona put me in the movies. Says I was a natural. Soon's he got back to Hollywood he was goona write to me about it'.
- 'I always thought my ol' lady stole it'.
- 'Well, I wasn't gonna stay no place where I couldn't get nowhere or make something of myself'.
- 'I was a natural'.
- 'So I married Curley'.
When Lennie kills Curley's wife and Candy and George find her they know the dream is finished. They know that they will hunt Lennie down and kill him, and that they will have to move on to another ranch after the end of the months work. They both know this but they don't want to admit it. Suddenly the dream that was happening has been snatched from their hand. They kind of knew that it probably wouldn't ever of happened, but if you don't have a dream, then you have nothing to live for.
- 'You an' me can get that little place, can't we, George?'
- 'I think I knowed from the very first. I think I knowed we'd never do her.'
- 'Then-it's all off?'
- 'He usta like hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would.'
At the end of the story George doesn't tell Lennie about the dream not being possible, as it would break his heart. He knows that he has to kill Lennie kindly before Curley gets to him and kills him painfully. He makes Lennie feel happy and peaceful by telling him about the dream again and how they had all bought the house and were living there happily before he kills him. George thinks that if Lennie died with happy thoughts then he will be peaceful. Lennie's happiness has always been a main issue with George as they were best friends.
- 'We got each other'
- 'Lennie gigled with happiness. An' live on the fatta the lan'.
- 'Ever'body goona be nice to you. Ain't gonna be no more trouble. Nobody goona hurt nobody nor steal from them.'
- 'Sure, right now. I gotta. We gotta.'
