Dreams In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Dreams are a lot more than tiny, little cartoons you see while you are asleep. The setting of John Steinbeck’s book, “Of Mice and Men,” is at a small working ranch in the unbearable heat of Soledad, California during the 1930s. In this time period, the Great Depression is making the whole U.S. suffer. These working ranches that workers had to stay at were able to give the men poor wages and was able to get away with providing harsh living conditions based on color, disabilities, and work ethic. The ranches were able to do this because the men had nowhere else to live and needed the money and care to survive. During this time, men had to think of happy wants, known as dreams, to be able to live through this tough time period. In Steinbeck’s book, dreams play an enormous role in all characters when struggling with difficult times.

As George states, his farm will have, ‘“all kin’s a vegtables...whiskey...eggs...or some milk.”’ (Steinbeck 57). George also explains how, ‘“[George and Lennie]’d belong there…’” (Steinbeck 57). THis small farm out in California is the essential reason why George keeps his head up and positive to find work. Without his dream, George wouldn’t wake up every morning willing to work; therefore, he would become poor with no place to live, thus resulting in a lack of food, water, and shelter. When George was younger, he’d play tricks on Lennie since he was forgiving and would forget about it quickly. As time went on, George realized he wouldn’t play these tricks on Linnie anymore because they are putting him at risk and instead of leaving Lennie behind, George takes him with him and claimed responsibility for Lennie. Since George claimed this responsibility, George's dream was important not only for a way to see a bright future, but it also helped George gain responsibility for Lennie who then started dreaming of