In fiction, as in life, dreams of the future are a perpetual part of one’s soul. Some people have realistic dreams and easily attain them. Others have unrealistic dreams that can never be attained. Still others have attainable goals but fail to meet them due to outside circumstances. In Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, several characters have dreams which are unfulfilled for a variety of reasons. Crooks, Curley’s wife, and George and Lennie all dream about a better life for themselves, only to see their hopes destroyed by obstacles they cannot control.
When Crooks, the black stable buck, learns about George and Lennie’s dream of owning a farm, he hopes to join and work for keeps. However, there are many reasons this dream cannot be fulfilled. For instance, Crooks’ dream is unattainable because of his race. Back then, black people
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Crooks lives by himself in the barn and isn’t even allowed to go in the bunkhouse where the other men sleep. They never invite Crooks when they go into town or hang around playing horseshoes. Instead, the stable buck is left alone with his thoughts. Crooks says, “I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse… they play cards in there but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink” (68). In other words, the workers don’t allow Crooks to play cards or even enter the bunkhouse because of his race. It is evident that Crooks’ dream is impossible to achieve because he has been treated like a lesser person his entire life. In this time period, it was extremely difficult for a black man like Crooks to follow his dreams because discrimination followed him everywhere he went. He could not succeed in a world where he was treated so poorly. Crooks believes George and Lennie would never want a black man on their ranch. Additionally, Crooks’s dream is unreachable because Curley’s Wife makes a final comment that leaves Crooks not only