One important point is that Candy’s dream (and partly George and Lennie’s dream, too) is brought about by desperation. Candy knows that he will be dismissed when he is no longer able to work, and he will be left unable to support himself: he compares the end of his working life to the way “they” shot his dog when it was no longer useful. In this novel, humans are treated as animals. During the time in which this novel was set, depression had hit America as wealthy landowners (represented by the Boss) got rich, and those with little land got poor (in this case, Candy, George, Lennie, and, indeed, the rest of the workers on the ranch). Desperation of a similar kind to this is displayed in Steinbeck’s other novel, The Grapes of Wrath, where the characters desperately flock to California, a migration which is ultimately painful and futile. Candy is therefore eager for any chance to continue to lead a normal life, and, most importantly, have somewhere to life. It is this sheer desperation that is reflected in Candy’s character as he is willing to sacrifice almost anthing to take part in their dream – he even promises to feature George and Lennie in his will.
As Crooks, the isolated “negro”, wishes to join in on George, Lennie and, now, Candy’s dream, optimism reaches its peak. Curley is in a similar position to Candy: he has severe health problems, is not young, and realises that when his time here on the ranch is over he will be laid off. Curley is introduced to the dream as Lennie wonders in; although he had been firmly told not to tell anyone about their plan, his excitement gets the better of him and he explains it to the enthusiastic Crooks. George and Lennie’s private dream has now expanded to feature two other individuals both desperate for a way out of ranch life. Desperation is a consequence of futility (all the characters have no other option – that’s why they’re willing to sacrifice so much to take part), and this is strongly featured in Of Mice and Men. The timing of Curley’s Wife’s entrance is very ironic, however. She is strongly disliked by George, who sees her as “jail-bait”: someone destined to ruin others’ dreams and send them into jail. She brings their dreams back to reality, as she states that she could quite easily get Crooks the sack.. She also knows precisely what happened regarding Curley’s hand, which gives her an advantage over George and Lennie.
Although not featured as prominently, Curley and his wife clearly have futile hopes. This is more significant than it seems, as the fact that people with all the cards on their side – Curley is the boss’s son, and is therefore almost guaranteed a good place in life – are not necessarily happy. Curley has an inferiority complex, and constantly needs to prove to himself through the displaying of aggressive and hostile behaviour towards others that he is superior. This eats away at his dream of having a loyal wife. He has a particularly seedy habit of coating one hand with Vasaline and keeping the other strong for fighting (of course, this is before his hand got crushed by Lennie, thus ruining his own dream of being a successful fighter). These traits support the statement that he believes in a macho-dominated society where women are just “used” to derive sexual pleasures.
Curley’s Wife also has dreams: towards the end of the novel she opens up to Lennie about being a failed actress. She clearly does not care for Curley, and knows that he goes out to visit prostitutes. This manifested itself in her antagonistic behaviour towards the other ranch members about their dreams. One important feature is that she has married Curley, which portrays her relationship with him as permenant. One gets the impression that she feels that by marrying him it will improve the situation, but in reality it feels very desperate, and futile. Although she knows she has failed – both in finding a caring, supportive and loyal husband and in her dream to become an actress, she finds it incredibly difficult to accept this and continues to dream.
One must note the title of the novel: Of Mice and Men. This is a quotation from a Scottish poem by Robert Burns – “To a Mouse”; the full stanza referred to is:
The best laid schemes Of Mice and Men
Gang aft agley
And leave us naught but grief and pain
For promised joy
This quotation reminds us that, no matter how hard we may try to prepare for the future and how carefully we plan, our preparations are ultimately futile as things will almost always “gang aft” (go wrong). At its simplest level, it states that dreams are futile, and this is represented in many ways in this poignant novel.
