Lost dreams in "Of Mice and Men"

During the great depression of the 1930’s, the dreams of millions of hardworking Americans were destroyed, and this is a major theme in Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men. The main characters, George and Lennie, have their dream of one day owning and living on a farm violently taken from them. Candy, an old swamper, becomes a partner in the dream of George and Lennie which is destroyed. Curley’s wife had a dream which was destroyed by her mother before the book began, to become a famous actress. When she married Curley she just wanted a friend or someone to talk to, this dream was also destroyed when the person she confided in snapped her neck.

Two itinerant workers, George and Lennie, travel together in hopes to “someday…get the jack together…have a little house and a couple of acres.” (13) To Lennie the dream was always very real, he always saw it as the near future and that George would let him take care of the “red and green and blue rabbits… ” (15) on the farm.

The Statue of Liberty front shot, on Liberty Islan...

My American Dream

George Street, Redfern

George has a different view; he only used the dream as a story that he’d tell Lennie to calm him down. They soon got jobs and started to make money. They found a partner in their dream who had money and who would pay for more than half of the farm. As soon as the dream is almost in reach for all of them, it is destroyed when Lennie accidentally kills their boss’ wife. George says in the last scene after their dream was lost, “I think I knowed we’d never do her. He usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe be would.” (90)Candy, the handyman at the ranch where George and Lennie work, is...