The dream also is significant to George's and Lennie's lives as it could mean freedom and labour for another man. The excitement of this coming event must be kept a secret from the other characters as "they are li'ble to can" them so they "can't make no stake." But even though Lennie has promised to not talk about the dream to others, he tells Crooks the stable buck. Crooks who is a "nigger" seems hesitant to talk to Lennie at first because he does not like white men that much as they do not treat him as an equal. But he soon notices that Lennie is innocent and even talks to him about how he feels about how everyone treats him; he expresses his feelings on being lonely and his anger, confusion in equal rights of all people. He talks to Lennie about how he "needs somebody-to be near him," and expresses his anger about not being allowed to "play rummy 'cause" he "was black."
But because Crooks has spent most of his life without company he has the time to understand the world and "read plenty of books" about men's dreams, which makes him the character that tells the view of the author and also hints about the ending of the book. Crooks had said before that he has seen "guys nearly crazy with loneliness for land" and "ever' guy got land in his head" but "never god-damn one of 'em" really fulfilled his dream of owning land.
Some people may not believe in Crook's after his revengeful idea of George not coming back to Lennie. I see Crooks as Candy and Lennie does- I do not believe in Crooks, as Iwant the dream to come true. Crooks himself knows this as he says "if I say something, why it's just a nigger sayin' it" However, John Steinbeck has shown that the significance of dreams has affected everyone including Crooks when he says "I'd come an' lend a hand" But at the end of the chapter, Crook's shows that he is not weak by saying "I wouldn't want no place like that."
Even though they are not willing to believe it, Crooks' criticism on dreams is correct and however many times George tells Lennie to "never speak to "Curley" and "Don't even take a look at that bitch"(Curley's wife), George's, Lennie's and Candy's dream of the farm is bound to fate due Lennie's simple mind and relationship with Curley and his wife.
But John Steinbeck does no just state the dream's failiure; he uses a subtle structure of events that lead up to the devastation of the dream. The technique he adopts makes the outcome of the dream uncertain. He makes Lennie mistakes get increasingly worse but still keep the realness of the dream so near. He keeps the strength of the dream in the money that is saved in Candy's bank but weakens the dream with Lennie's increasingly worsened mistakes from feeling a "girl's dress" to killing mice by "pettin' em' too hard" and to breaking Curley's hand. It becomes predictable that Lennie may just do even worse things and ruin the dream but is it uncertain, as the trio are so close in fufilling the dream of the farm. But when Lennie kills the puppy and Curley's wife at the end of the book, it is almost certain that he has shattered the dream.
But the shattering of dreams has happened before in the book to Curley's wife-she had a dream of becoming a movie star but her dream can never come true as she "married Curley" and thought her "ol' Lady stole" the letter from the people who promised her a place in the movies. She becomes an oxymoron and demonstrates to Lennie her supposed talent of being "a natural" by making "a small grand gesture with her arm and hand to show that she could act."
This part of the story is quite emotional, this shows Curley's wife's dream not only 'an every girl's' but the way she tells her dream of becoming a movie star with regret makes the dream very significant to her. John Steinbeck tries to achieve this atmosphere using the setting and his style of writing.
Steinbeck explores the sorrow in the significance of the dream and tries to support it by his choice of words. In this chapter, he uses words such as "lazy", "humming" and "buzz", these words give a calm and soft effect on the setting, which prepares for Curley's wife's sad past.
The writer also creates the tranquil mood by using different contrasts of light. In this chapter he writes that "the afternoon sun sliced in through the cracks of the barn walls," the feeling of afternoon sun is in a cool barn seems bright and soothing.
The stillness in the barn, which gives a silent atmosphere, is made aware to the reader by making them explore around the barn. John Steinbeck describes the setting as if the reader can see all around them, he takes their mind's eye around the setting step by step. In the sentence "the afternoon sun sliced in through the cracks of the barn walls and lay in bright lines on the hay" shows Steinbeck's technique; he first wants you to focus on the sunlight coming through the cracks of the barn and then he makes you follow the light onto the hay.
Steinbeck not only wants his readers to be aware of the inside surroundings but also distant surroundings and he does this by using sounds. In chapter five, even though the setting is in the barn, Steinbeck makes the reader aware of what is happening outside by writing about "the clang of horse-shoes on the playing peg and the shouts of men, playing, encouraging, jeering." This also perhaps adds to the soundless and calm atmosphere in the barn. The noiseless atmosphere also enables the reader's full attention to the dialogues, which only seem to be the voices of the characters.
This also happens in chapter four, where Crooks shares his opinion of men's dreams and talks about his childhood when "white kids come to play" with him and everyone was equal. The objects in the "harness room" are stationary; the writer makes the reader discover Crook's room where "there were pegs on which hung broken harnesses." The same silence draws full attention from the reader to Crook's feelings of the past and present, the seriousness also makes the dreams of Crook's seem significant.
As he has written about Crook's dreams, the writer has shown that he has considered dreams from different people and made each dream seem as important as each other by focusing on the dialogue and not what is happening around the characters. Because Steinbeck has included Crook's dreams within a book within a racist society makes me appreciate the significance of Crook's dreams as people in that time rarely get to hear about a coloured person's dreams.
The dreams of Crook's are shown to be so important to him that he gets angry and takes revenge on Lennie for what white people have done to life. He tries to overpower Lennie by frightening him with the prospect of George "ain't coming back." This makes the reader think Crook's has a cruel personality and distrust his views of the results of men's dreams.
These reasons may be probably why the author chose to use Crooks to give his views about the significance of dreams never coming true so it would not give away the ending. Steinbeck has written the book of dreams involving the reader so when the novel ends in Steinbeck's views it also changes the view of the reader about the reality of dreams in those times and also how significant they were to people. It also changes the way the readers think about characters such as Crooks.
How does Steinbeck introduce and develop the themes of dreams and reality in 'Of Mice and Men'
Throughout John Steinbeck's, 'Of Mice and Men,' dreams of marginalized characters are explored and developed. They dream to be accepted; have a better way of life - but something always seems to get in the way of these dream; they fail as soon as things seem to become possible.
The book was based and written during a time in which many farmers went into heavy debt due to a recession and the Wall Street Crash. The living standards for migrant workers were low due to lack of work; heavy farming took place which caused soil to erode. This was worsened by a seven year drought which lasted from 1931 and turned the Great Plains into 'dust bowls.' Hundreds of thousands of farmers and migrant workers began to move to California, this was because of numerous reasons - but mainly because California was seen as the 'promised land.' Many migrant workers moved to California in hope of a new life with higher standards of living. This was known as the American Dream.
Every marginalized character in 'Of Mice And Men' has a dream, one of the biggest dreams in the story is that of George Milton and Lennie Small. They dream to be have their own ranch; becoming self-reliant and free from troubles in their lives.
The farm that George constantly describes to Lennie, on which George and Lennie could live independently and have a home, is one of the most powerful symbols in the book. This seduces not only the reader but the other characters, to believe that this dream can become reality. Candy is immediately drawn in by the dream - 'He said excitedly, "How much they want for a place like that?" as is Crooks "…Why I'd lend
The farm represents a paradise for men who long to be masters of their own lives, to become free, self-reliant men with protection from other cruelties of the world. Steinbeck uses many devices to show that in reality this dream, is only a dream and will never materialise into reality. One of these devices or clues is planted in the name of George Milton. 'Paradise Lost,' a famous series of books written by John Milton, shows how Adam and Eve lost their paradise and dream which foreshadows the fate of George and Lennie's dream. When Crooks mentions the possibility that George could spend the money in a whore house - "…but ever' time a whore house…took what it takes." This shows another reality that if George and Lennie don't save all of their money they won't be able to afford the farm they dream of. Steinbeck also displays the corrupting power of women to show the reality that the dream George and Lennie have will always fail; as long as Lennie is involved. George says, "Don't you even look at that bitch." The immediate friction between Curly is another sign of Lennie's 'curse' - "I don't want no trouble…"- even if he doesn't want to cause trouble he always does, this is proved again when he gets into the fight with Curley.
George and Lennie's dream is developed for the first time when Candy overhears George and Lennie talking about their dream; he is immediately drawn in - "You know where's a place like that?" After the shooting of his dog, Candy is very upset and in a way lost because his dog was always his companion - "I had 'im ever since he was a pup." He sees George and Lennie's dream as an opportunity to start a new life and tries to buy his way into the dream by offering a considerable amount of money - "S'pose I went in with you guys. Tha's three hundred an' fifty bucks I'd put in." He does this as he is extremely lonely now without his dog and as a marginalized character an opportunity to start a new life is infrequent.
The stable buck, named Crooks because he had previously had an accident with a horse and had been left crippled, also had dreams. Crooks was a well educated man and read frequently, Candy says - "He reads a lot. He got books in his room." However intelligent Crooks was he would always be low in the social hierarchy of the ranch because he was black. He dreamt of becoming accepted and to moving up the social hierarchy of the ranch - the reality was that as a black person in the 1920s he would always be marginalized due to the lack of black people in that area - "And now there ain't a coloured man on this ranch an' there's jus' one family in Soledad."
At one point in the text, Crooks tells Candy and Lennie how improbable it is that the dream will materialise. He says, "You guys is just kiddin' yourself. You'll talk about it a hell of a lot, but you won't get no land. This is the first time in the book that the characters involved in the dream are told how unrealistic the dream is. Crooks is being dismissive towards the dream because he's used to white people being hostile towards him - he rejects Lennie before Lennie could reject him. After talking to Lennie for reasonably long time Crooks accepts Lennie and is more open to his dream. "...If you… guys would want a hand to work for nothing…" This comment shows us that Crooks sees an opportunity to be finally accepted and have something to live for and he grasps the opportunity as soon as he can. However as soon as Crooks opens up and asks to be involved in the dream Curley's wife comes into the room. This is another example of the corrupting power of women - she will always be in the way.
Another person who also has a dream is Curley's wife. She is marginalized in the book because she is the only women in the story - because of this she is low in the social hierarchy on the ranch. She dreams of becoming an actress - "He says he was gonna put me in the movies." This was very unlikely in reality as very few opportunities came along to become an actress, it was also likely that the man who promised to make her an actress was using her. When she never received a letter from the man that promised to fulfil her dream she married Curley. The dream became virtually impossible after she married Curley; a wife was expected to settle down with their husband.
In Steinbecks 'Of Mice And Men,' marginalized characters try to suppress their depressions by dreaming of better lives. Characters like Crooks and Curley's wife dream of moving up the social hierarchy on the ranch and being accepted, but being the only women and the only black man on the ranch this is impossible, so they chase other dreams. Curley's wife dreams of living her own life trying to become an actress and Crooks becomes apart of George and Lennie's dream at the first opportunity. The dream that George and Lennie have is one which opens up the possibility of a new life for not only George and Lennie but Candy and Crooks as well. It is a revelation for several of the marginalised characters who begin to see light at the end of the tunnel. However when these dreams become a possibility they are dashed by silly mistakes. The corrupting power of women is shown, along side the 'curse that Lennie possesses, to dash the hopes these dreams. The reality that if George and Lennie do not save every penny they have they will never be able to afford the farm is mentioned by Crooks and the killing of Curley's wife is foreshadowed by the assault on a woman in Weed and the death of Lennie's dog. The characters are seduced by the chance of living a life of independence and freedom and become blind to the grim reality that it will never materialise.