Dreams In John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice And Men'

Of Mice and Men Process Essay

Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens once said, “We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.” In John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, the reader is exposed to the different effects dreams have on people and the power that they have, but also that they have some level of impossibility. Steinbeck expresses that dreams motivate people to work hard, and gives them something to look forward to, but dreams are often are impractical and unobtainable. The reader is shown that dreams give people an incentive to do their best and to work diligently. When George and Lennie, the two main characters, first got to
Lennie, Candy, and Crooks, the stable buck, were sitting in Crooks room in the barn. When Curley’s wife came in and began to insult them, Candy got defensive and told her that they “[didn’t have] to stay [on the ranch]. [They had a] house and chickens [and] fruit trees [and] a place a hundred times prettier than [the ranch]”(87). The thought of having their dream come true gave Candy something to look forward to, and that helped him speak up to Curley’s wife. He knew that she could have him fired, but he had a dream that he truly believed in and planed on, so he did not worry about anything but the prospect of finally being able to have his own land. George and Lennie also looked forward to having their own property. When the two of them were in the woods, they discussed their dream. George said, “Guys like us, that work on ranches...don’t belong no place...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…”(15). They were optimistic that against all odds, they would have a better future that anyone else in their situation. This dream that they had carried with them for a long time had given them hope and it always made their day better to recall
Lennie and Candy were telling Crooks about their dream to get a piece of land. When he heard this, Crooks told them that he had seen many men pass through the ranch and all of them wanted to buy land but “nobody ever gets heaven and nobody gets [any] land. It's just in their head” (81). Crooks pointed out that many men dream of having land and no matter how good they think their plan is, their fate will most likely be the same as everyone else's. People can dream as much as they want, but having a plan does not make the dream any more realistic. Everyone who has had this dream ended up in failure and Crooks tries to give Candy and Lennie a reality check so they do not get their hopes up. However, the men were so excited about this dream, they would not listen. In addition, Steinbeck appropriately got the title for his novella from the poem To A Mouse about a farmer who expresses his regrets for destroying a mouse’s nest. The farmer said, “But Mousie, you are not alone In proving that foresight may be vain: The best laid schemes of mice and men Go oft astray (oft go awry) And leave us nothing but grief and pain Instead of promised joy” (Burns, 40-46). Robert Burns expresses that dreams often result in failure, no matter who you are or what you have done. No matter how hard one works for something, there will always be the possibility that the dream will be