Of Mice and Men CFU

Explore the theme of dreams in Of Mice and Men (40)

You must consider the context of the novel in your answer.

the novella ‘Of Mice and Men’ was about how the American dream was represented in 1930’s
America. This was a time when the great depression of 1929-1933 where every American was
thriving to find their type of American dream which could be a small but a achievable goal in
the eyes on many. Tone of farmers packed up their families and belonging and headed for
California which was called the promise land for the American dream. But this was flawed point
of view in the 1930’s because the American dream was mostly hope for hard working
Americans, it made them want to work every day so that that could have the American dream
they want but very low percentage of people ever got the dream they wanted.

The first instance of the theme of the American dream is introduced at the start of the book
through George’s description to Lennie of the farm that they hope one day to own together.
They continue to discuss this throughout the text. Gorge tells their dream to Lennie like a story
“livin of the fat of the lan” – high aspirations, small hopes of it ever becoming a reality, which
suggests that they don’t really think it would come true, even though their dream is small. This
dream is very important to gorge and Lennie because it represents freedom and having control
over their own lives, which they do not have while moving around looking for work.

Another instance when the theme of the American dream is used is when candy and crooks ask
to be involved in George and Lennie’s American dream. Because they both are trying to escape
their fail American dream and their sad and lonely lives on the ranch and example of this is
“You seen what they done to my dog tonight? They says he wasn’t no good to himself nor
nobody else. When they can me here I wisht somebody’d shoot me” meaning that candy has no
point in living his life because he has nothing to work towards or no hope in his mind for the
future. But candys dream was crushed when Lennie killed Curly’s wife and he asked George if
they could still have the American dream, but all George does is stair at him inferring that he
has failed. Crooks was a lowly black man on the ranch until Lennie and candy came along and
told him about the great American dream they had in mind, so Crooks wants to escape his
miserable life on the ranch and sees George and Lennie’s dream. On the ranch, Crooks is
isolated and continually experiences racism. But crooks realize how futile his hopes are when
George comes in at the end of chapter 5 and gets angry at candy and Lennie for talking to
everyone about there American dream. Crooks tries to secure himself but saying he was joking
about joining their American dream because he feels like he was not meant to be a part of it in
the first place. This represents black people all over America in the 1930’s showing how they
will decently not get their American dream because of the color of their skin and how they will
never fit into society.
The last instance of the American dream is used is when curly’s wife, she tells Lennie that she
married Curley after her plans of becoming a movie star fell apart. “Come there when I was a
kid. Well, a show come through, an’ I met one of the actors. He says I could go with that show.
But my ol’ lady wouldn’ let me. She says because I was only fifteen. But the guy says I could. If
I’d went, I wouldn’t be livin’ like this, you bet.” Curley’s wife is thinks of how her life could have
been if she had been an actress, showing how her dream is a type of escapism for her. Curley’s
wife’s dream is different to George and Lennie’s because hers is grander however, the dreams
are similar in that the characters rely on them as a way of coping with the difficulties in their
lives. Her dream might of failed but she still moves forward because it gives her hope that
maybe just maybe she will become a actor one day. But her dream was much harder to achieve
because of how gender of woman where perceived back in 1930’s all they were meant to be
was housewife’s.

George and Lennie’s dream is impossible once Lennie killed Curley’s wife. Without Lennie,
George cannot envision himself carrying on, and he realises that the dream was never really
possible and it was just too far out of reach for them. This represents the hopelessness of men
like them throughout America and how people like them might thrive for the dream they have
get, but they will never achieve it because it was just a dream to start with never a achievable
goal. “George said softly, —I think I knowed from the very first. I think I knowed we’d never do
her. He usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would.” Their dream was
foreshadowed to fail when crooks in chapter 5 talk about the American dream of men “I seen
hunderds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an’
that same damn thing in their heads. Hunderds of them. They come, an’ they quit an’ go on”
Crooks comments remind the reader of how George and Lennie’s dream is not unusual for men
like them many others are also dreaming of a better life. This is linked to the idea of the
American Dream as they believe that by working hard and saving up, they will be able to
achieve the success they hope for. However, George realises at the end of the novel that his
plans with Lennie really were just a dream that would never have come true. This suggests that
the dreams that men like them held during this period in America were hopeless.