This brings them a hope that better things will come. That if they keep working hard enough, one day they will own their own plot of land. The "Dream" claims that personal success can be gained by hard work and personal sacrifice, and George and Lennie are willing to do that.
By the end of the book, Lennie is dead; he never had a chance to fulfil his ambition, to tend the rabbits. And George, knowing Lennie was going to be killed, gave up his own chance at happiness. "I think I knowed we'd never do her. He usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would." He backed out of the deal, it was always George and Lennie's dream, they would do it together. Without Lennie, there was no dream to George.
Candy also finds hope in the "American Dream." He is old, and will soon be sacked from his job. He believes he will slowly die in the gutter, which he desperately wants to avoid, so when he hears about George and Lennie's plan, he wants to join in. This dream gives him the courage to stand up to Curley's wife, which he would not normally do, because she could get him fired. "You think we'll hit the highway an' look for another lousy two-bit job like this. You don't know that we got our own ranch to go to, an' our own house. We ain't got to stay here." Curly wants to buy into the farm for a security for the future, and companionship. He wants to replace his lost dog with the friendship of George and Lennie.
Candy's dream is also cruelly shattered, when he finds out about Lennie. He resigns himself to the fact he is going to die in the gutter, and he cries.
Curley's wife's dream was to be an actress, she wants to be loved and admired. "Coulda been in the movies, an' had them nice clothes - all of them nice clothes they wear. An' I coulda sat in them big hotels, an' had pitchers took of me." Curley's wife wants to get away from Curley, she doesn't like him. This dream means an escape from him.
Curley's wife also dies before she has a chance to make her dream come true.
Crooks, at first, denies the American Dream. He is black and therefore does not have as many rights as white men, his social status is even below women. "Cause I'm black. They play cards in there, but I can't because I'm black. They say I stink." The seduction of the dream is too strong, and he wants to join it. He knows that however hard he tries, he will never get anywhere, so when he hears about the dream, he wants to be part of it. He wants to be an equal, and talk to people freely, as friends.
After his conflict with Curley's wife, he decides that there is no dream. Wherever he will go, he will always find prejudice, so he might as well stay at the farm he is at now.
This book shows that the American Dream is fake. The people that find hope, are exploited by their own dreams. They are never able to fulfil them even if they do work hard. That the "American dream" is a ploy from the rich people in American, to get their workers to work harder, and never give up on them.