The novel ‘Of Mice and Men’, written by John Steinbeck is a truly fascinating novel based upon the theme of dreams. This novel was published in 1937, which was towards the end of ‘The Great Depression’ that hit the United States. The novel was set in Soledad, California, during the same time period as published. This was an era in which the economy collapsed; many Americans lost their jobs, therefore leading into a lot of poverty and despair. Although many people were depressed, this was also the era of dreams. This is what Steinbeck’s novel is all about, dreams during the great depression. Dreams were very important in the novel. They played a huge role in the character’s lives, affected their behaviors, as well as their personalities. Steinbeck uses dreams as a tool to enrich the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’; therefore he emphasizes their importance throughout the novel by making them the main theme.
Dreams have a rather important role in the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’. The whole novel is based around dreams, as well as decisions that were made according to these dreams. The author, John Steinbeck has emphasized this by the plot of the novel, the character’s personalities, as well as their actions. The plot of the novel is based on two characters that were chasing their dreams. These characters are Lennie and George, who left a town called Weed because they got in trouble. They were searching for a job, in order to get better paid, which will help them achieve their dream, ‘The American Dream’. The American dream is a dream shared by many of the characters in the novel, it is the desire to have a happy life, be part of a family, have a stable job, and maybe even own some land. Page 47 of chapter 3 gives an insight why the characters Lennie and George left Weed. It turns out Lennie was accused