At the beginning of the book all we know is that George and Lennie are walking to “the ranch”, which is where they were going to start a new job. They got chased out of the previous ranch they worked at because of a misunderstanding. Lennie could be dopey and like a child tended to follow his instincts without being aware of what was socially acceptable. The trouble at their previous job came about when Lennie saw a young girl with a pretty dress on. Although he wasn’t interested in the girl, he liked the dress so he grabbed it. The girl started to scream and because Lennie was frightened, he held on to the dress tightly. He knew no better than to just keep holding on to the dress. Poor Lennie didn’t mean any harm, but that wasn’t the point, the whole town wanted him dead.
When George and Lennie finally arrived at the ranch more characters were introduced into the story. “The door opened and a tall, stooped-shouldered old man . . . a big push-broom in his left hand.” (p. 18). This is the old swamper. He worked at the ranch sweeping. Sweeping was all he could do there because he had no right hand, which he had lost in an industrial accident. He shows George and Lennie to the boss. The old swamper was definitely a one to gossip as he informed George and Lennie about every man who worked at the ranch, along with a tale about each. Also the old man had a very old sheep-dog
“At his heals walked a drag-footed sheep-dog, grey of muzzle . . . licking his grizzled, moth-eaten coat.” (p. 25).
The old Swamper had the same dream as George and Lennie so they let him in on their plan to make as much money as possible towards their dream house and land etc.
The boss’s son Curley, “ a young man came into the bunk-house . . .with a brown face, brown eyes and a head of tightly curled hair.” (p. 26). He wore a glove full of Vaseline just like his father, which they said it was to keep one hand soft for his wife. I think Curley’s dream is to be respected by everyone including his wife.
Curley gets very jealous because his wife eyes up all the other workers and flirts with them. “Married two weeks and got the eye. Maybe that’s why Curley’s pants is full of ants.” (p. 29).
Curley’s Wife, “the tart”- as she is described so vividly. “She had full, rouged lips and wide spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red.” On her feet she wore, “ red mules, on the insteps of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers.” (p. 32 – 33) She wanted to be an actress and although she thought she was nearly there a few times, she had been very unsuccessful in her intended career. However, men who had said they would help her get somewhere with her talent for acting, had just used her for sex and not written back to her. This character very much symbolises the shattered American dream.
Crooks is the black man referred by the others as, “the nigger”. He is portrayed as having, “ . . . a lean negro head, lined with pain . . .” (p. 53). He calls Slim ‘Mister Slim’, which must have something to do with the fact that he was black and everyone in this book thinks black people should speak to white people with respect. This is where the racism starts. Crooks’s dream is to be respected by white people and treated like any other person would be treated, instead of being made to feel ashamed of his education for instance and getting left out of activities to go and read his books. Furthermore I think the other men were actually jealous of Crooks because he is the most educated worker at the ranch.
This novel is all about the American Dream, America is meant to be a land built on promise and opportunity. It promised independence, land and a decent living through honest work. It also implies, in theory, that anyone could become successful. The trouble is that in practice, most people need to be born rich to make it. It is a great dream for the lucky few that succeed, but a source of disillusionment for the rest.
All the main characters in Steinbeck’s book had a dream for a better life and future. Their dreams kept them going when times were tough and they had no money. During the depression, times were indeed very hard. Far from getting any closer to achieving their life’s ambitions, most people struggled to survive from day to day.
George and Lennie’s beans without ketchup is a metaphor of their lives, all work and function but no luxury and fun.
The whole story is basically sad, because nobody is getting anywhere and their lives are not getting any better. They cannot earn enough money to save up a stake for their dreams. This is proof that their dreams are not coming true.
The book portrays America during the 1930’s as a land with no equal opportunities or rights for ethnic minorities, poor or disabled people. The good American life was just a dream after all.
The trouble with dreams is that they’re not real. George and Lennie’s dream was just a bunch of words repeated over and over. At the beginning these words were said “rhythmically”, but by the end, they are spoken “monotonously”, when George finally accepts his dreams will never come to fruition.
