Lennie and George’s dream is to own a farm and for it to be just the two of them so that no one can get in the way of their relationship. George knows that this dream will never really happen but he likes to think about it because when he is telling Lennie about it he puts himself in the dream and it almost seems real. But when Candy overhears Lennie and George talking about their dream and says that he can supply over half of the money George can actually see his dream coming true. The reason that Candy wants to be part of this is because this is something that may be his future he may actually have. It gives him a reason to live now because his only friend in the world (his dog) has been so cruelly taken away from him. Being part of this dream is a breath of fresh air to him.
Crooks is a character in the novel that Steinbeck put in to make a point about how the situation was for black people in those times. Crooks is subject to abuse every moment of the day on the ranch when the men call him ‘nigger’. It is not just a name that he is called once or twice a day. It is, in fact, seen as his name by most of the men on the ranch instead of Crooks. Crooks dream is to be accepted into society and to be treated as an equal. He is hurt by all of this abuse and will not open up to anybody. This can be seen when in chapter four when Lennie, Candy and crooks are talking about the dream and how close they are to getting the little place. Crooks then opens up and sees this as a chance to finally be part of team and be treated as an equal. When it looks like it is not going to happen he covers up and says
‘I didn’t mean it. Jus’ foolin’. I wouldn’t want to go no place like that’.
He says this to try and stop himself from being hurt. So he goes back to being the old lonely ‘Negro stable buck.’
Curley’s wife is another of the loner characters in the novel. Just as Crooks is the only black person on the farm, Curley’s wife is the only woman on the ranch. She has a dream of becoming a famous actress and starring in the ‘pictures’ and having lots of friends and being rich. All of this could have happened but it didn’t. She blames her mother because she wouldn’t let her go away with a show because she was ‘on’y fifteen.’ Around the farm she has got a bad name for herself according to the guys she has ‘the eye’ (she is flirtatious.) This is only because she is the only woman on the farm and she gets lonely so when she tries to talk to any of the lads they think that she is coming on to them. It is simply that she is just immensely bored and needs someone to talk to. Her dream was broken when she married Curley because she knew that no one would ever see her and that she would never be an actress.
This would have been the same for many people in the 1930’s in America. Loneliness was a very big factor in those days. That is why Steinbeck has made it such a big issue in this novel. At the end of the novel the message sent out to do with dreams and loneliness is that whatever your dream it will not come true but everybody will have a dream and everyone needs a dream.
Steinbeck at the end leaves no one having a proper friend and everyone to be lonely. At the end George loses his best friend. He loses the only person that he cares about in the world. He is truly lonely. George knew that he had to shoot Lennie because if he had not done so then one of the other people would have shot him and George did it in a very nice way for Lennie. Lennie was, in fact, the only one that achieved his dream because when he died he was mentally there on that little farm with George and he was tending the rabbits. So really if anyone achieved their dream it would have been Lennie.
Steinbeck paints a very clear picture at the end of the novel of America in the 1930’s where there is loneliness, poverty and broken dreams. The novel was written to let people in power in America know what was really happening in their country where everyone is supposed to be equal and free.
