Comparing The Dream In John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice And Men'

Of Mice and Men Essay Everybody dreams, but not all dreams become reality. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, all the characters had dreams, however none of them came true for different reasons. George and Lennie’s dream was to someday own their own land, so they could have animals and farm crops. The next character who had a dream was Crooks. He wanted to be treated equally and own land as well. Finally, Curley’s wife wanted to become famous by being a movie star. Unfortunately, none of these characters fulfilled their dreams, because Steinbeck believed the American dream does not come true. George and Lennie’s dream was to farm crops on their own land and have a barn filled with lots of animals. Their dream did not come true, because
On their way to the farm in Salinas, California, George described this dream to Lennie. They had stopped to rest in a field when George said, “‘O.K. 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 and—‘” (13). George continued to describe their dream when he said, “’We’ll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch and chickens. And when it rains in the winter, we’ll just say the hell with goin’ to work, and we’ll build up a fire in the stove and set around it an’ listen to the rain comin’ down on the roof—‘” (14). This dream was important to George, because he wanted to be free instead of being controlled by other people. Lennie was excited about this dream also, because he would get to pet rabbits all day and he loved to pet soft things. Although their dream was amazing, they unfortunately could not fulfill it due to many reasons. One reason their dream did not come true was because they got fired from most of their jobs due to Lennie’s mental retardation. For example, during their last job, Lennie saw a girl who was wearing a dress that looked soft, so he touched it without her permission. The woman yelled and two guys were sent out to find Lennie
Ever’body wants a little piece of lan’” (70). Crooks was being negative to Lennie during this scene saying that nobody’s dream comes true. Although he was being pessimistic, Crooks told Lennie his dream anyway because he felt comfortable talking to Lennie. This dream was important to Crooks, because owning his own land would mean he would have more freedom and would not have to deal with people’s discrimination against him. Sadly, Crooks’ dream did not come true because of racism. Crooks was in his room when Curley’s wife came in looking for attention. Crooks, who had been warned not to hang out with Curley’s wife or other white women, told her to leave and said that she had no right to come into his room. Curley’s wife, who was more powerful than him, reminded Crooks of being powerless because of his race when she stated, “’Listen, Nigger… You know what I can do to you if you open your trap?...Well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny’” (76-77). Even though Crooks had tried to protect himself by telling her to leave, Curley’s wife still ended up threatening him and reminding him who was in charge. Because Crooks was black and he lived in a racist society, he would never have enough money or power to buy his own