To begin with, the two main characters, George and Lennie. Their dream is to have call their own land, but that is mostly George’s dream, Lennie wants to look after the rabbit, since he likes to tend soft things. Lennie is introduced in the novel as a animal imagery, ‘a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulder; and he walked heavily dragging his feet a little, the way bears drag his paws.’ He acts like a little child and he looks up to George as guidance. At times George wishes he didn’t have to put up wit Lennie, but you realise that they cant live without each other, they need each others company, ‘I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you.’
Yet carrying on about George and Lennie’s dream, there is a gain and lose of the dream. They have a sense of hope, ‘we got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us.’ This means by George and Lennie having each other, the there would be a sense of hope with their dream, for their future, for them to look forward together. During their bad times at the ranch, they have the dream to look forward to, which the dream gives a sense of purpose, to escape from reality. When their dream will come true, they will be free from prejudice; they wouldn’t have anyone treating them with disrespect. Also one of the most important facts that George will gain is to be in charge of own destiny, a sense of ownership, ‘an’ it’d be our own.’ He has an idea of the kind of place he is looking for, ‘got a little win’ mill. Got a shack on it, an’ a chicken run. Got a kitchen, orchard, cherries, apples, peaches, `cots, nuts, got a few berries. They’s a place for alfalfa and plenty water to flood it. They’s a pig-pen….’ However there is a lose of this dream, a lose of hope and touch with reality.
When they arrive at the ranch where they will be working the first person that they meet is an older gentleman named Candy. Candy has lived a long and hard life on the ranch and has nothing to show for it. During his time on the ranch he has lost his hand, grown old, and feels that he has become worthless. The name "Candy" is an interesting one for this character though. When you think of candy you see children eating it while running around in the yard having a good time without a care in the world. This is the exact opposite of what the character in the novel is. The restless fiend of age has caught up with him and he is not able to move as fast as he once did; even his dog is unable to move about. Candy and his dog have good bond relationship; they have each other like George and Lennie. When George and Lennie reveals their dream, Candy become interested and wanted to share the dream, ‘s’pose I went with you guys. Tha’ three hundred an’ fifty bucks I’d put in. I ain’t much good, but I could cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some. How’d that be?’ Candy wants to share this dream since he wants to be use, since how candy’s dog was treated. His dog was killed, since it was no use and candy doesn’t want to be useless.
