Motifs In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Dreams, a major motif in the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, is defined as wishing for a better place, future, situation, etc.; Idealized life. The motif of dreams contributes to the development of Character vs. Self-conflict because it involves the protagonist Lennie battling his own disability, relating to theme: happiness is an elusive state that people are constantly searching for and often miss from trying too hard.
The motif, dreams, strengthens the improvement of the theme by molding Lennie’s actions towards finding his dream so it displays the meaning of the theme. An example of this is when Lennie is killed by George. ““Lennie begged, “Le’s do it now. Le’s get that place now.” “Sure, right now. I gotta. We gotta.” And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger” (Steinbeck 106). This reveals Lennie’s constant yearning for his dream, causing him to have excessively irrational behavior towards achieving it, which set him up for failure right from the start. The development of the theme in the novella is a crucial item that is influenced through the use of Lennie’s actions, which is stimulated by his disability.

An excerpt of this is when Lennie talks about his ruined dream. “An’ rabbits,” Lennie said eagerly. “An’ I’d take care of ‘em. Tell how I’d do that, George” (Steinbeck 58). This emphasizes Lennie’s ignorance to the effect his disability has on those around him, making his dream impossible to achieve. Lennie’s development throughout the novella is strengthened by the discrimination he endured because of his disability, making the motif of dreams a crucial role in the advancement of Lennie’s