At the beginning of the novel, in chapter 1, George and Lennie are in the brush. They are sitting by the river's edge. They have been dropped off buy a bus and have had to walk 4 miles and are very tired. The next morning the two of them have to be at work on a ranch in Soledad and George tells Lennie that he will be doing all the talking.
In this chapter you also find out about the last job they had at Weed and why they had to leave, Lennie got the m in trouble and they had to run.
Also in this chapter we find out about their dream and Lennie gets very excited at the idea that he can tend rabbits on the farm and George says
" an' live off the fatta the lan' ".
Lennie acts like he is a child when he told about the dream, and recites bits of it that he knows because he has been told it so many times.
They have no money at this point because they had to leave their last job before being paid because Lennie was accused of assaulting a lady on the ranch and they were chased out of the town, but George manages to produce two cans of beans. This shows that he always provides for them both.
At this point in the story George gets angry with Lennie because Lennie moans that he only likes beans with ketchup
George, on life without Lennie:
" Whatever we ain't got, that's what you want. God a'mighty, if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an' work, an no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town an' get whatever I want."
When Steinbeck refers to the ranch workers dreams he is referring to the American dream, this was a common belief of Americans in the depression. It was a dream that they could own their own land and work for themselves.
This is a novel of beaten hope and the reality of the American dream.
George and Lennie are poor, homeless ranch workers, they are doomed to a life of travelling from job to job. Their dream may not seem different to the other Americans but George and Lennie cling to the thought that they are different to the other workers that drift from job to job, because unlike others they have a future, and each other. Although characters like Crooks and Curleys Wife remind us that George and Lennie are no different from anyone else who wants something of their own.
George and Lennie dream is seen as ' wishful thinking ' because they could never own their own farm. The dream was wanting to re-create happier times, when they were young and they lived with their families. George and Lennie want to re-create how they lived when aunt Clara was alive, George was also close to aunt Clara and there was a strong friendship between them. That is why he promised to protect Lennie when she died. They also dream of this because they want to remind or want to live in a kind of paradise where they have lots of food and a cosy life.
The dream that Lennie and George have is not a reality till the characters are introduced to Candy. He is a old, one handed man, he befriends George and Lennie when they first get on the ranch. Candy becomes a very lonely man after Carlson kills his only companion, his dog and hopes for the same fate.
" When they can me here I wisht somebody'd shoot me"
What happens to the dogs is a insight in to what is going to happen to Lennie.
When he hears Lennie and George talking about the dream he becomes excited and offers money towards it so they can buy a farm, he also offers to work on the farm.
His substantial amount of money and the fact that he knows a place makes it hard for George and Lennie to refuse his offer. Candy clings to this hope of a nice future.
All three men gain hope but hear people coming and promise to keep it a secret.
In his excitement Candy lets the secret slip to both Crooks and Curley's Wife.
After Lennie kills Curley's Wife and shatters the reality of the dream Candy becomes a hopeless again, the broken shell of a man.
Lennie's simple mind cause him trouble as he get scared and panicked very easily and this causes him to hurt and even kill people. He kills mice accidentally, killing the puppy and crushing Curleys hand all point to what happens to Curley's wife as Lennie does not know what's right and wrong he sees no difference in killing animals and people. He didn't know that killing Curleys Wife was different than an animal and only ran because George told him to if he got in trouble. He has no idea that when he does these things it affects George and other people around him greatly.
He does not learn from his mistakes, he knows that petting things to hard kills them but his strength and stupidity causes him to kill animals over and over again.
When he is away from George for the littlest time he gets himself in the trouble as he killed the puppy and Curley's wife when George was only a short distance away from him. He has omence strength but doesn't know this and if a normal man did what he did to Curley it would not of broken his hand but his strength crushed his had within minutes without even knowing he had hurt him that bad, he was only trying to stop Curley from punching him because George told him to fight back he grabbed Curleys hand and couldn't let go because he panicked, this also happened in Weed when Lennie could not let go of the lady dress because he panicked when she screamed. Lennies child-like personality and his behaviour always get him into trouble which he can not get out of and this causes him to kill another human being.
When looking at the theme of Steinbeck's novel, we should first look at the title, which is an referral of a line of Robert Burns, a Scottish poet:
" The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft aglay."
Which translated in to modern English is:
" The best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry. "
This statement is at the heart of the novel and serves a insight of what is to come, as the novels two main characters do have a scheme, a specific dream of changing their lives. The tragedy, of course, lies in the fact that no matter how much George and Lennie plan, regardless of how much they hope and dream, their plans never come true.
This is a story of defeated hope and of the harsh reality of the American dream. George and Lennie are poor homeless migrant workers, doomed to a life of wandering and labour. George and Lennie desperately cling to the thought that they are different from other workers who drift from ranch to ranch because, unlike others, they have each other and a future.
But characters like Crooks and Curley's Wife serve as reminders that George and Lennie are no different from anyone else.
By killing Lennie, George eliminates a immense burden and a threat to his own life
( Lennie, of course, never threatened George directly but his actions had put George's life in danger. ). The tragedy is that George, in effect, is forced to shoot his only companion, who made him different than many other workers, as well his own dream and admit that it has gone hopelessly awry.
His new burden is now hopelessness and loneliness, the life of a homeless ranch worker. Slim's comfort at the end " you hadda George " indicates the sad truth that you have to surrender your dreams in order to survive, not the easiest of things to do in America, the Land of Promise.
