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

Without dreams there will be no ambition to follow. Dreams are important in people’s lives. They are what people aspire to have, different people have different dreams. This is illustrated in the book Of Mice and and Men by John Steinbeck. Various characters have various dreams that helps them further develop themselves as a character. The dreams that each of the characters had in the novel made up their attitude and outlook on like. Dreams play an important role in Of Mice and Men, they motivate the characters, and dictate their actions.
The characters dreams play an important role in the novel Of Mice and Men. Curley's wife does not like her life on the farm, she would much rather live her dream as a showgirl with a good connection with the people around her. She told Lennie about her aspirations of being a showgirl, “Coulda
been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes- all them nice clothes like they wear.
An’ I coulda sat in them big hotels an’ had pitchers took of me” (Steinbeck 89). Curley’s wife always believed she could achieve these dreams, when in reality the dreams were always out of her grasp because she was stuck on the ranch. The dream of Curley’s wife to be a showgirl would lead to the demise of her and the dreams she had. In a similar way Candy’s dream to leave the farm with George and Lennie gave him an important role and a sense of purpose in his life. Candy always dreamed of leaving the ranch and his dreams almost became reality when he met George and Lennie. In a conversation between George, Lennie, and Candy, Candy offers to help them and their dream,“Maybe if I could give you guys my money, you’ll let me in the garden even after I ain’t no good at it” (Steinback 60). The dream of Candy is to escape the mundanity of the ranch and be useful to others. Candy wishes to be apart of their dream, by offering help and even offering money to their situation. The thought of the dream acted as an
escape for Candy as he lived his meaningless life on the ranch. George and Lennie's dream plays a significant role in their lives as well. The pair share the same dream of owning land and living a normal life together. George tells Lennie how they are different from others, “With us it ain’t like that. We got a future” (Steinbeck 14). The two actually care about each other, and both wish to achieve their dreams together. Their dream is meaningful to both men because it represents the independence, freedom, and ownership they both wish to have. All the characters ultimately share the same dream of independence and leaving the ranch. But all as well face different challenges when trying to achieve their dreams.
Dreams motivate the characters in Of Mice and Men. Curley’s wife is the most lonely character in the novel. My times in the novel, Steinbeck gives us insight into how wretched and horrible her life really is. “Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely” (Steinbeck 86). She never gets to speak to anyone, and Curley’s wife hates that. At almost every point in the novel, she tries to interact with one of the characters. The fact that no one talks to her and she has to keep all of her emotions to herself helps motivate her to talk to more people, Lennie in particular. Another person that’s motivated by dreams in this novel is Candy. ”I’d make a will an’ leave my share to you guys in case I kick off, cause i ain’t got no relatives or nothing.” (Steinbeck 59). Candy is motivated to leave the ranch at any cost. He’s so desperate to leave, that he’d give up everything he owns to live with George and Lennie. He wants to be worth value to someone's life, and he can’t get that where he is right now. Lennie is the final character that dreams motivate in this novel. His motivation by dreams is a little different though, much like a child's motivation for a toy or the enjoyment of playing with a toy. “Tell us about that place, George.” (Steinbeck 56). Lennie loves it when George talks about what they’re going to do at the ranch they own. Lennie wants to be able to tend to rabbits, and will work for as long as it takes to get there. The motivation for petting and tending to rabbits is what drives Lennie to work as hard as he does. Motivation is another hugely important role that dreams play to help the characters in Of Mice and Men.
The dreams of the characters in Of Mice and Men dictate their actions which eventually lead to their downfall. Curley’s wife wanted to be respected and loved which led her to be disrespected by others on the ranch, and eventually killed. “ Don’t you even take a look at that bitch. I don’t care what she says and what she does. I seen ‘em poison before but I never seen no piece of jailbait worse than her. You leave her be.” (Steinbeck 32). Curley did not give his wife a lot of attention, which led her to seek recognition from the other men on the ranch. Candy was also a man who chased after his own dream, and his dream was to be useful again. “Maybe if I give you my money, you'll let me hoe in the garden even after I ain’t no good at it.”(Steinbeck 60). Candy lost his hand in an accident on the ranch. This made him desperate to be useful and drives him to try and contribute to George and Lennie’s “farm”. Candy also wanted to leave the ranch to retire and have company with George and Lennie. George and Lennie were tired of working day to day, causing them to pursue their dream of having a farm. “Lennie cried out suddenly- ‘I don’t like this place, George. This ain’t no good place. I wanna get outa here.’” (Steinbeck 32). George and Lennie were no different than the other characters. They were only at the farm to make enough money to buy the farm they have always wanted.
These points summarize how dreams play an important role in the character development, how dreams motivate characters to complete their dreams, and how the dreams of the characters dictate their actions of these character dreams are important to the plot because they ultimately lead to the climax of the novel through the exposition, leading into the resolution. George and Lennie’s dreams motivate them to work and stay out of trouble, Curley’s wife to be in a strong relationship , and Candy to be useful and have friends. The dreams dictate George and Lennie’s actions by wanting to live on a farm and Lennie to be normal and George’s want to help him, Curley’s wife’s want to be loved and have a strong connection, and Candy’s dream to have friends and to be useful. Dreams also play an important role by showing Curley’s wife’s want to have a strong relationship, Candy’s want to escape from the mundanity of the farm, and George and Lennie’s want for ownership. Ultimately, the characters motivation and need to pursue their dreams are what lead to the story's climax, with Lennie and Curley’s wife’s death.