How Does Steinbeck Present The Theme Of Dreams In Of Mice And Men

Throughout the novel, "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck, dreams are a prevalent theme. Set in the time of The Great Depression, many of the characters share similar dreams that reflect many ideals of the American people at the time (Ghimire). One dream shown throughout the book is the one carried by George and Lennie, the story's main characters. Together they share the dream of owning their ranch and living off the land. By the end of the book, however, that dream along with many others comes crumbling down when the characters have to face the reality of their delusions (Nayak). Steinbeck portrays dreams as impossible to achieve, and just not plausible in a world full of hatred, injustice, and poverty (Ghimire). In Steinbeck's novel, the

Curley's wife, in a moment of vulnerability, confesses her previous crushed dreams to Lennie towards the end of the novel (Ghimire). She talks about the dream she had of living life in Hollywood as a famous movie star (Steinbeck). She dreamt of wearing nice clothes, going to movie premieres, staying in fancy hotels, being in pictures, and being on the radio (Steinbeck). She also was given the opportunity to pursue these dreams; however, her mother shot them down and they were ultimately crushed (Steinbeck). It is then she reveals that the only reason she is married to the nasty, short-tempered Curley is due to her unfulfilled dreams (Steinbeck). Her broken dreams leave her without direction and affect her life for the worse (Ghimire). They also leave her dissatisfied with her life, which in turn causes her to lash out at others (Ghimire). The connection can even be made that the failure of her dreams eventually leads to her death, as she would not have been in that situation if she had not married Curley (Ghimire). Curley's wife is a prime example of how broken dreams lead to the worst and tear a character apart in Steinbeck's

Crooks is the lone African-American man who works on the ranch along with the other characters, in a time of racism and injustice (Kombieni). As a Black man at the time he is faced with a lot of discrimination and injustice from the other characters in the book, which leads him to hope and dream of a sense of belonging even if he is reluctant to do so (Kombieni). Crook's previous experiences with dreams being immediately shot down because of the color of his skin, makes him weary of believing Lennie when he tells him the dream of owning a farm and living off the land (Kombieni). He even shoots down the idea in chapter four, saying, "Just like heaven. Everybody wants a little piece of lan'. I read plenty of books out here. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. It's just in their head. They're all the time talkin' about it, but it's jus' in their head." (Steinbeck). It is clear through this that the world has been unfair to Crooks and it affects his character by making him a recluse and very pessimistic (Kombieni). However, even as self-aware as he is, he can not help but give in to the dream a tad, offering his assistance on their future farm (Kombieni). However, this dream is shot down again when Curley's wife appears and reminds Crook's that he is powerless due to the color of his skin. This leads him to quickly forget about the idea altogether (Kombieni). This shows how unfulfilled dreams