The great depression was the worst time period in American history.

However, in Of

Mice And Men by John Steineck, we see how the author uses the characters individual dreams to

tie into one big dream. This dream is reiterated throughout the whole story. The character’s

dreams give them hope, focus, and motivation.

Candy’s dream is to be accepted by everyone else. Candy is an old man, he has lived on

Curley’s dad’s farm for many years. Everyone thinks he can not do anything because he is old,

weak, and disabled. Other workers on the farm, like Slim and Curly, get sent out to do jobs,

however, Candy always has to stay back and clean. Steinbeck uses Candy’s old dog as a

metaphor to show how society views old people who can not work anymore. His dog was old

and could not do anything, so Carlson killed it to put it out of its misery. Candy wants to be a

part of the group, which is why he works hard to prove himself to others. This desire to be a part

of the group leads him to do unwanted things, like allowing Carlson to kill his precious dog. He

knows that they killed his dog because it, “wasn’t no good to himself nor nobody else. When

they can me here I wisht somebody’d shoot me.”(Steinbeck 60). Candy draws the connection

between his dog and himself. He sees how society discards old people after they can’t work. He

knows he will get fired soon because of his age and inability to work anymore. When he hears

about George and Lennie’s dream, “His eyes were wide open.”(Steinbeck 56). This gives him

hope to join Lennie and George on their quest for a farm in which they could never get fired. The

dream of owning their land gives Candy hope to be a part of George and Lennie’s family.

George’s main goal in life is to be self-sufficient. He hates the thought of working for

someone else and never wants to get fired again. At the beginning of the book, George and

Lennie were running away from the people in weed because Lennie scared a girl in a red dress.

George knew that what Lennie did would get them both in serious trouble, so he and Lennie ran
away. In the search for a new job, they ended up at Curley’s dad’s farm. George wants to be able

to live a peaceful life, while still being able to provide for himself and Lennie. He thinks of

Lennie as a younger brother, so he always looks out for him. They always travel as a pair, that is

why they both want to live together on a farm with, “‘a little house an’ a room to ourself. Little

fat iron stove, an’ in the winter we’d keep a fire goin’ in it.’”(Steinbeck 58). It seems that George

has thought a lot about his dream, especially the part where “‘nobody could can us.’”(Steinbeck

58). In his dream, he stresses the fact that they can’t get fired because he knows that Lennie

always messes up and does something stupid to get them in trouble. He also wants a peaceful life

with no worries. That is why he wants his own far because then he could make his own rules and

nobody could tell him to do anything. George is a very smart man because he plans out his

future, but he also uses his dream to focus on the present. He always works hard for money to

buy his own piece of land. He also takes care of Lennie because he knows that Lennie can not

take care of himself. George does everything now so that in the future he can be able to provide

for himself and those he cares about.

Lennie’s dream is to be able to have all the rabbits he wants. He uses the rabbits as

motivation to be good. Lennie got George and himself fired because he grabbed a girl. Lennie is

not the brightest tool in the shed but he always listens to George no matter what. He is obsessed

with fluffy animals like dogs, mice, and most importantly, rabbits. He uses the rabbits as a means

of motivating him to always do what George tells him to do. If he does not listen to George, then

he would not be able to take care of the rabbits on George’s farm. Lennie is too strong for his

own good. Whenever he does something bad he tries his best to hide it because “George’ll be

mad.” (Steinbeck 91). We can see how devoted he is to protect his dream of being with rabbits,

so much so that he would even kill a girl just to make sure that George never found out what he
did. George still found out because Lennie is not very smart, but it still shows the length Lennie

is willing to go to protect his future.

Although each individual character has their own goals and dreams, we still see them all

come together into one big dream, the American Dream. Candy shows his desire for acceptance

by giving George and Lennie all his savings, this includes the money he received as

compensation for his injury. Their dream gives him hope for a better future, one in which he is

still useful and accepted. George uses his dream of self-sufficiency to focus on the present.

Although he hates the thought of being fired and working for someone else, he still gives in

because he knows that it is the only way to accomplish his dream of owning a farm. He wants to

work hard now so that he can live a peaceful life later; a life in which he never has to worry

about being fired or Lennie dragging him down. Lennie just wants to tend the rabbits. He does

not have the intellectual capability to form long term dreams, so he just focuses on the rabbits.

He uses the rabbits as motivation to listen and do everything George says. He dreams about

being able to tend the rabbits on George’s farm and to be able to stay with George forever.

Steinbeck uses dreams to show how they ignite hope, focus, and motivation in all of the

characters. He also repeats one central dream as the answer to everyone’s problems, regardless of

age.