Due to flaws in Lennie's character the Dream Farm is destroyed. George discovers this when Curley’s wife is found dead and it is only a matter of time before candy does:
‘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 use of the repeated question here adds a note of insecurity. While the final long sentence followed by the brief statement ‘He knew’ adds a reflective tone. When Lennie kills Curley’s wife the Dream Farm dies with her, as now life on this ranch is impossible, so Lennie and George will have to move on. However George realises that the Dream Farm can’t happen as Lennie is too brutal and hence Curley is going to kill him. Curley, although his wife is dead is more motivated to kill Lennie because of what he did to his hand. Curley is symbolic of a cruel world that fails to understand dreams.
The dream farm affects other characters in the play:
Candy went on excitedly:’ how much they want for a place like that?’
After Candy’s dog is shot, Candy loses his only companion. Candy and his dog are an obvious parallel to George and Lennie. This event adumbrates Lennie’s own death at the end of the novella. The Dream Farm attracts Candy with offers companionship and security in his lonely old age. Candy in return offers his money that almost makes the ‘dream farm’ not just a hope, but also a reality. Crooks is also drawn to the ‘dream farm,’ as he wants to be free from the oppression he is faced with when people like Curley’s wife show their superiority:
‘Well, you keep your place, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.’
Crooks is a partial cripple in a society that values humans on their ability to provide a service, and his is also a Negro in a society that regards all non-whites as sub-humans. Crooks is excluded from the bunkhouse because of the colour of his skin. The reader is reminded of Candy’s dog when Crooks tells us that white people say he stinks. Crooks is affected by the dream farm as he compares humans hopes with religious belief and says the search for ‘a little piece of land’ is like the search for heaven. However on the other hand in chapter 4 he is cynical of both and this creates tension, as George and Lennie seem so close to their dream.
Indirectly the dream farm affects Curley's wife:
‘Soons he got back to Hollywood he was gonna write to me about it’
Curley’s wife is not directly affected by the dream and at one point tells them its not going to happen, but she still introduces the theme of the future of dreams, hopes and aspirations. When she reveals her dream in Chapter 5 to Lennie we link her with George Crooks and Candy. However just like the dreamers her dream doesn’t come true, but she is different as she blames her mother. The failure of her dream warns us the ‘dream farm’ is about to fail.
Curley and Carlson do not understand companionship:
‘Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin’ them two guys?’
Although companionship is shown by other characters, for example Candy and how much he did not want his dog to be shot until a valid reason was given, Curley and Carlson fail to show this. They show this through the final question in the novella as they fail to understand companionship. Curley is meant to be matched with his wife, but when she was killed he did not want vengeance because of her, but because he had to settle an early score. Curley’s wife believes that he does not love her as she was using her to pick fights. Carlson shows companionship with his gun because as soon as he killed Candy’s dog he was cleaning it, yet this also shows his cold nature. Carlson is also seen playing solitaire, a game for one person.
The dream farm is repeated to Lennie just before he dies by George, as to keep Lennie happy. Lennie proceeds to get excited:
‘Le’s do it now, le’s get that place now.’
George does this so Lennie dies happily but with the death of Lennie comes the end of the ‘dream farm.’ The book is based on a poem by Robert Burns, ‘To a Mouse’. The mouse represents humanity, as it is fragile in contrast to the forces that control our lives. The message is that despite suffering we need dreams to survive and gives our lives purpose. I believe the story to be a parable of the human condition.
In conclusion, George and Lennie’s ‘dream farm’ is important for what it stands for rather than what it comprises of. Companionship is the central theme in the novella and George and Lennie’s companionship is exceptionally unique. If you compare back to when the novella was written and now you realise that people are much closer nowadays. The themes of the novella are still applicable to the reader today, but this can also mean the failure of dreams can happen in any decade. Even at the end after the dream is gone, George and Lennie are still friends as George kills Lennie, because it is better that the death is quick than slow. George’s decision to kill Lennie came from loyalty, trust and friendship and to let Lennie die free amidst nature he gives a final description of the farm, leaving the reader on a reflective and emotive image. Although it is brutally shattered by the arrival of Curley and Carlson who are the two characters that symbolize the opposite of companionship.
