Dreams Mice and Men Essay

George and Lennie’s dream is the most commonly mentioned in the novel, they want to live the American dream and have their own land and home. Although Crooks tells them he â€Å"never seen a guy really do it† their determination is beyond that of normal men. They crave the freedom from ordered working life and less responsibility. George desires the relief from the burden of supervising Lennie, on the ranch he constantly has to watch him to ensure he is no danger to himself or others. He talks of how he could â€Å"live so easy† without Lennie and it seems to be a private dream of his to marry and raise a family without the childish weight of Lennie upon him. He has cared for Lennie for a large part of his life and wants happiness for both of them without the strain of rules and the risk of characters such as Curley. Lennie’s only dream at first glance seems to be having his rabbits, however at a closer look the rabbits are his way of relating to their entire dream, he connects all other aspects of free life with them such as growing crops to feed them. He loves hearing the story of â€Å"how its gonna be†, his own dreams are based on what George tells him is good and bad. Candy is desperate to join in with Lennie and George and their dreams have become his. Since his dog died he has nothing left on the ranch to encourage dreams and he seems to have given up, the chance to be part of a reasonably realistic project motivates him again and he is willing to give everything to be part of it, â€Å"I’d make a will an’ leave everything to you guys case I kick off. † All of Candy’s dreams seem to have be worn away by life on the ranch, the loss of his hand also seems to symbolise a large loss mentally for without his hand he cannot realistically dream of working his own land and living alone. For Candy life on the ranch seems to be a reminder of lost dreams rather than hopeful ones and this could explain his eagerness to be part of Lennie and George’s. He is also aware that he is old and becoming closer to the end of his job and possibly his life. â€Å"They’ll can me purty soon. Jus’ as soon as I can’t swamp out no bunk houses they’ll put me on the county. † He dreams of ending his life in happiness and not in poverty and discomfort surrounded by bad memories. Curley’s wife is in many ways like Lennie and George, she tell her dream like its real and could happen at any time to escape the loneliness of the ranch. She tells as many people as she can about her dream as though she wants to make it more real for herself. Her conversation with Lennie reveals her desperation to make this dream come true, she hangs onto the man who could put her in â€Å"pitchers†, so sure he did write to her and someone else ruined her dream. It is these fantasies she uses to escape her life which is heavily restricted by her husband who wants to control her to comply with his own dreams, she wishes to be free to fulfil the life she desires. Her way of telling the story of her dream is almost sad as she clings to any glimpse of it so desperately it is clear how unhappy she is. All the dreams expressed by these characters are what drive them in the novel and can determine how they express their feelings and how they act. Niki Holdsworth Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE John Steinbeck section.