George and Lennie, these two companions also have ‘the American Dream’, some of their own land and to make some money. George and Lennie have a lot of compassion for each other, George is like a father to Lennie and he tells Lennie about their dream all the time to help keep Lennie going. George cares a lot for Lennie and likes to see him happy; so he talks about their dream. Their lack of money is due to George going to town and ‘blowing’ it, as soon as they get paid, George goes to the ‘cat houses’, bars and just likes to spend the money.
Candy is an ‘old-timer’ on the ranch and he over hears George and Lennie talking about their dream. He becomes interested and asks George if he could join them. He would rather work wit George and Lennie than rot away on the ranch, with no respect or true meaning. At first Candy thinks George and Lennie are crazy, because every migrant ranch worker has the same dream. But George explains to Candy that he knows a place for sale. Candy has a dog, which he relates to all the time. The dog its self is like Candy because the are both old, frail and lame in some way. The events that happen to the dog almost certainly correspond with the events that Candy goes through.
Crooks is a stable buck and the only black character in the story. Crooks is a realist and thinks George and Lennie’s dream is ludicrous. He explains that he as seen many migrant ranch workers with exactly the same dream, and they never accomplish it. Then Candy goes on to tell Crooks that George knows somewhere and is very serious. So from there on Crooks is tied in with the dream as well, Crooks also asks George if he could work for George, not get paid but have a roof over his head and food on the table.
Curley’s Wife, she is the property of Curley that is her only identity. She goes against all propriety in the sense that, she only cares about herself, she flaunts around because she knows she can get away with it seeing that she is the boss’s daughter in-law. She tries to get people into trouble by leading them on. She is a signal for danger; she has fiery red hair, she has bright red lips and nail varnish, she also wears a long red skirt. Red being the natural signal for danger keep away. But like everyone else she has dreams as well, she dreams of being a Hollywood movie star, she always wants to be in the spotlight. No one really sympathizes with her.
My conclusion is that all these dreams that the people in the story have are possible but if they carry on living the way they are, e.g. George always spending money instead of saving some, then the dreams will stay dreams.
