Of Mice and Men

The American dream consists of having your own bit of land, family, children, money and mainly independence and freedom. Within American society this dream is associated widely throughout many centuries and is still present today. This dream is not achievable for the characters in the story however Lennie and George still have hope. Lennie and George claim they are different because of the relationship and bond they have together. ‘With us it ain’t like that. We have a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us’. The quote is very direct implying they will succeed this dream, however throughout the story this doesn’t become apparent. There are many reasons why these broken dream do not become fulfilled which I will go into further detail about. In 1937, America was going through a major depression where money, jobs and enjoyment of life was scarce. Men wanting work had to travel for miles where they lived on ranches and wasn’t paid well. Steinbeck enforces this in the story where the character’s dream and aspirations are not met. John Steinbeck grew up within the era of the depression and expresses in his writing a second person view where he understand the problems with society and makes them noticed. Many of the characters hinder each other’s dreams from being met

In of mice and men the minor characters all face this problem. The problem is down to prejudice. Prejudice is when someone is judged and looked down upon based on an aspect of them often being unfair. For example Curley’s wife is prejudged as being weak and incapable being as she is a woman. She is also described to be a ‘tart’ by Candy. Curley’s wife has to act this way to receive any attention or love of anyone otherwise she is forgotten about by the sex obsessed men. The author keeps her name from us implying she isn’t worthy of her name and is titled as ‘Curley’s wife’ like a possession of his. This also shows that she hasn’t got a life and is trapped and pointless. Curley’s wife opens up about her dream to Lennie. ‘coulda been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes’ Curley’s wife states what she could have been and wanted to do however that was hindered due to the prejudging of the American sexist society and the lack of opportunities because of hard circumstances. Women were expected to stay at home providing food and completing housework while looking after the children. Women were also expected to follow their husbands command. Women were treated as minor in society where men saw them as sexual objects rather than normal human beings. ‘Curley says he’s keepin’ that hand soft for his wife’ Candy says to George. This quote shows the disrespectful sexual nature of Curley towards his wife implying he has free access to her at his demand. Curley’s wife is stuck with Curley because he has full control over her even if she isn’t happy. Curley’s wife isn’t a free, independent, respected woman like she wishes.

Crook’s is also another character who is treated unfairly and his dreams are not met. The problem is also down to prejudice. Racism is shown towards Crooks because of his skin colour. Crook’s is referred to as a ‘nigger’ or ‘negro stable buck’ where the characters treat him as if he is an animal. Crooks live on his own isolated from everyone else, ‘. His opinion isn’t valid within the ranch or society and he has no rights. The quote supported this is ‘if I say something, why it’s just a nigger sayin’ it’. When Steinbeck first describes Crooks he stats he has a ‘mauled copy of California Civil code’. This is a representation that he hasn’t got any rights and is treated with no respect through the choice of describing it as mauled. However the fact he owns one shows us he knows of the rights a white person would have. Crook possesses many items ranging from shoes, clock, shotgun and a collection of books etc. We can conclude from that Crooks suffers from being lonely, and has many possessions because he doesn’t have people around him. In a way they are like a comfort to him. Steinbeck builds him up to seem like an intelligent man through describing many books. ‘few dirty books on a special shelf’. The fact they are ‘dirty’ shows they have been used and on a ‘special’ shelf shows that they are important to him. Crooks lives of his own away from everyone else. Crooks also doesn’t want to suffer from being lonely anymore. ‘S’pose you didn’t have nobody. S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunk and play rummy cause you were black… a guy needs someone’ ‘Gets too lonely an’ he gets sick. This is a quote were Crooks really opens up his feelings and states his needs. From the quote we can see the expressive language used for example ‘lonely’ and ‘sick’ which are extremes of emotions. Also the language used to open the sentence ‘S’pose proposes a thought he wants to get across. From this I believe that Crooks dream is to be treated fairly and to be given equal opportunities like everyone else.

When we look at the language in each of the quote for example ‘coulda’ ‘S’pose’ ‘tha’ it shows that the characters all have the same accent because the words sound the same which Steinbeck enforces to show similarity and collectiveness that the characters have. This also suggests the fact they all face the same problem and come from the same place. This also gives us hope as a reader they the problem might be solved.

Steinbeck uses the same structure when describing Crooks and Curley’s wife dreams. He makes them talk about their pasts where they were happy and content in life and there dreams were being touched upon. For example Crooks ‘the white kids come to play at our place’. Curley’s wife ‘I met one of the actors. He says I could go with that show’. Steinbeck then will make the characters talk about how their dreams were not working out and express their anger and frustration with the current situation. This shows that the characters were both happier when they were children. Since the whole situation has reached a climax where people mistreat each other, and don’t meet each other needs the dreams become impossible to reach. Generally when the other characters are at working age they are seen as just workers by the few people above them. Their feelings are not considered however they will get on and work day by day together. They will not meet their dreams either but it doesn’t affect them as much. For Curley’s wife and Candy they are separated from everyone therefore they have to face life alone, so there dreams become more desperate as they feel extremes of emotions because they just want to be happy. These two characters suffer more from their dreams not being met because they cannot integrate and share the problem like the other characters.

In the novel George and Lennie share their dream of having their bit of land and embraces it with Candy and offers Crooks. At one point the men seem to get excited and plan out their ideas for the future. This is a short lived dream for Crooks being as he realizes reality quickly and rejects the dream. ‘You’re nuts’ ‘I seen hundreds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an’ that same damn thing in their heads’. Crooks puts down the dream and shows how ridiculous he thinks it is. However Candy continues to believe along with George and Lennie added his saving into it as well, ‘tha’ three hundred an’ fifty bucks I’d put in’. The dream is in sight till the last moment in the book where George has to kill Lennie because everyone else would end up killing him. The dream could have continued, but George couldn’t let it because it was his and Lennies dream. The book ends by George and Slim going for a drink ‘me an’ you’ll go in an’ get a drink’ showing that things will just go back to normal and everyone’s dream will carry on unreached.

Thwarted dreams and aspirations are developed in a clear, significant way throughout Of Mice and Men. The novel starts with two men starting a new job with a clear direction of aspirations and their shared dream. While the story continues the characters share their dreams with Lennie mainly and come to terms with them failing and their disappointment. George and Lennie however are not losing hope and still believe their dream is in reach. Steinbeck sways his reading audience to believing that there dream will not happen through using the other characters example however we still have hope and want their dream to become true. Dreams are not reached because of many different reasons. Reasons such as sexist, racism, depressions, segregation between rich and poor, lack of money, lack of care for each other emotions, and inequality lead to dreams not being met. Money is also needed to invest into a dream which none of the characters had. Curley had money but he wasn’t happy either. Steinbeck kept his dream from us as an audience so we couldn’t conclude anything as we could for the other characters. The characters and society of the time seem to have a misconception of how happiness is achieved. The characters are trapped and are not free either from working, or the forms of prejudice above. Dreams are not met which results in characters not living happy lives.