Essay_About_Mice_and_Men

With close reference to the text explain the importance of hopes and dreams in “Of mice and men”. The themes of hopes and dreams are central to Steinbeck’s novella “Of mice and men”. The book investigates the dreams of a number of characters and the end suggests whether such hopes and dreams are attainable. The American Dream can be explained as having the opportunity, which allows all people to achieve their aims in life, through the hard work. For others, the American Dream is the opportunity for their children to grow up with an education and career. But the word “dream” suggests that it is something unrealistic and intangible so some people say that the American Dream is impossible because not everyone can gain it through only hard work and determination. An example of the American Dream is George and Lennie’s main dream- to have their own ranch and therefore be independent. This dream is also share by, Candy and Crooks. “Someday—we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house And a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs.” That was a typical dream for all men in that times- but not everyone could make this dream come true. George and Lennie’s perfect world would be one of independence. Workers like Lennie and George have no family, no home, and very little control over their lives. They have to do what the boss tells them and they have little to show for it. They only own what they can carry. Therefore, this idea of having such power over their lives is a strong motivation. Candy and Crooks upon hearing about the dream, wanted to join them so that he would not be left alone and the unexpected opportunity offered by Candy’s money means that the dream is no longer a fantasy, but could actually become a reality. Sadly Lennie’s behaviour finally destroys their dream. George and Lennie have always had these hopes and dreams. From the very start of the novella, we learn how George and Lennie depend on each other. George has to keep Lennie safe through watching him all the time. His life is complicated to achieve his dream and it makes it hard for him. George has to watch out Lennie like a small child and think instead of him. Because of that, George has a hard life. He has to move on all the time because of troubles caused by the Lennie’s behaviour. Evidence of that, is when he was resting before the meeting with a new boss, and he said to Lennie: “God, you’re a lot of trouble, (…) I could get along so easy and so nice If I didn’t have you on my tail. I could live so easy and maybe have a girl” The quote above shows us that George’s main hopes are: staying out of the trouble and to live in the peace. At the beginning of the story he is hoping to stay out of the trouble this time. Lennie is like a small child. He was keeping a dead mouse in his pocket because it was fluffy. The only one thing, which he always remembers is his childish dream- no trouble, he has remembering because it means he could care for rabbits and to stay with George. He always asks George to tell him again about their dream. “We're gonna have a big vegetable patch and we're gonna have a rabbit hutch. (…) Yeah, you get to tend the rabbits.” In this conversation is like a father talking to a child. George tells that story again and again so Lennie can stay calm. When George goes into a full description of the dream farm, we can imagine a perfect place, which probably doesn’t exist. Candy did not have a dream before until he heard about George and Lennie’s dream. Then he started to share the same dream. He thinks that everyone wants to have a place which he can call his own. The evidence of that is when one day in the bunkhouse he overhears George and Lennie talking about their future plans and that is what he said: “Everybody wants a little of land, not much. Jus’ somethin’ that was his (…) Tha's three hundred an' fifty bucks I'd put in (…) I could cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some." He explains to them that he has not much time left before he dies and he wants to spend that time in a place, which he can call his own. He offers a large sum of money to the two of them and he asks only to live there until he dies. He also said that he would be able to help them with the cooking. The dream of having a home with friends animates Candy and fills him with energy. Candy is rather old and has hope for accomplishing something that he has never had before, makes him happy. Buying the land with George and Lennie is his only hope, especially after losing his old dog. In the end the dream is never accomplished and Candy blames Curley's wife for it. Even after this, Candy still wants to buy the land with George, but George says that he should have known from the beginning it would never happen. His dream has never come true. Another character who has never fulfilled her dreams is Curley’s wife. She dreams of being a film star and moving to a big city. She wants to be an actress in Hollywood. She imagines how great it would be to stay in nice hotels, own lots of beautiful clothes, and have people want to take her photograph. When she was young she had met a man, who thought that she could be star in movies. She tells Lennie. “Coulda been in the movies, an' had nice clothes...an’ I coulda sat in them big hotels, an' had pitchers took of me (…) this guy says I was a natural". She blames her mother that she didn’t meet her dreams. Her mother didn’t allow her to come to the Hollywood because she was too young and because of her mother, she never fulfilled those dreams. “He says I could go with that show. But my ol’ lady wouldn’t let me. She says because I was on’y fifteen.” But either way, she never got a letter from the Hollywood. She married Curley only because she thought that he makes her dreams came true but she has never loved her husband; “I don’t like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella”. She wedded Curley because she thought that he would make her dreams real. But it is worse now because she is the only woman in a gang of men on a farm in the middle of nowhere. She is unhappy and she wants to leave a ranch and start new life. But finally, her dream was destined to never come true because she was killed by Lennie. Even if Curley’s wife is lonely she tends to isolate other people in particularly Crooks. He mainly dreams of being equal with white people. Because he is black, he wants to be accepted. He said in the bunkhouse that when he was young he felt accepted more than he is now; “The white kids come to play at our place, (…) I went to play with them, and some of them were pretty nice. He is lonely and isolated because of the colour of his skin. He is territorial about his room to counter the fact that he is not allowed in the bunkhouse. He wants to be one of a gang but because he is black, he knows that this is impossible. When he heard about the George, Lennie and Candy’s dream he wants to join them but he still takes delight in verbally attacking Lennie and I don’t think Crooks ever believe that dream ever takes place for more than a few minutes because he knew that he wouldn’t be accepted into it. The end of the novella seems to confirm Crooks’ pessimistic view of life. None of the characters achieves his or her dream. George and Candy both agree that their dream about having own ranch is now impossible. Curley’s wife died and she never met her dreams. As black people have been discriminated against by white people for a long time, Crook’s dream has never come true. When George tells Lennie to look across the river and imagine their farm, he lets Lennie die with the hope that they will attain their dream, and attain it soon. George, who must kill Lennie, is not allowed such comfort. He must go on living knowing the failure of their dream, as well as dealing with the guilt of having killed his best friend. Before George shoots Lennie, they share their dream for one last time. For all the characters dreams stay as dreams.