Dreams as Driving Forces: Aspirations and Struggles in Of Mice and Men

Walt Disney once said “If you dream it, you can do it” but for many migrant workers in the nineteen forties, their dreams were hard to achieve. In the book Of Mice and Men, two migrant workers who travel together get into trouble when Lennie, who happens to be mentally disabled grabs women dress, not knowing any better. Lennie and George had a dream to have their own farm, which gave them the inspiration to work. Candy, an old disabled worker at the ranch, had no dream untill he was inspired by Lennie and George to have their own farm, he wanted to join in on it.

Lastly, Curley wife had a dream to become an actress but it all stopped when she married Curley who didn't care about her. Although it often seems as if people have no dreams due to their lack of money, family, or drive to work, Lennie and George, Candy, and Curley's wife all persevered at one point to become closer to reaching their fantasy, and still use their dreams to fight through hard times.

Get quality help now

writer-Charlotte

Verified writer

Proficient in: Free Essays

4.7 (348)

“ Amazing as always, gave her a week to finish a big assignment and came through way ahead of time. ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

George and Lennie have always dreamt of having there own farm despite their lack of money. To George having the farm somewhere in the future was a something for him to live for. Lennie believed having their own farm was just a fantasy which George would tell him to make him happy. The night before Lennie and George went to their new ranch, they slept in a small clear in the forest.

That night Lennie asked to hear the “Story” about their farm. George was telling Lennie about their farm when Lennie interrupted and said, “ an’ live off the fatta the lan’” Their future farm was what kept George inspired to keep working and continue fighting for Lennie. Before they get to the farm, Lennie and George collectively only had ten dollars, so their farm never felt real. Candy heard about it and begin to tell them about the three hundred fifty dollars he had saved up, Steinbeck wrote, “They fell into a silence.

They looked at one another, amazed. This thing they had never really believed in was coming true.” For the men, this was everything. It gave Lennie and George inspiration to work for one more month. For Lennie, this was a huge deal because all he wanted to do was to take care of the rabbits, and if he did not behave George would threaten him with not being able to. So for Lennie it kept him out of trouble. Lennie and George's dream continue to help them live and work harder. Candy didn't originally have a dream in Of Mice and Men. Candy has seen so many people come and go through the ranch, where their dreams got destroyed. Lennie said “I see 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. Hundreds of them. They come an’ they quit an’ go on;an’ every damn one of em’s got a little piece of land in his head”.

This quote shows why Candy had lost hope and had no dreams because he had seems dreams come and go. But when it came to Lennie and George, he saw something different. When he had heard about there dream he said “An’ they give me two hundred an’ fifty dollars ‘cause I los’ my hand. An’ I got fifty more saved up right in the bank. Right now. Tha’s three hundred, and i got fifty more comin’ the end of the month”. For Candy, this opportunity for him was huge. He believed as he aged more and more, he would slowly be kicked off the ranch, like his dog who was killed due to being unproductive. Lennie and George's soon became, Lennie, George, and Candy's dream. This dream took away Candy's fear of being left behind, or kicked off the ranch. Curley's Wife was an extremely lonely, attention seeker, and woman who had given up on her dream. Until the last few chapters of the book, the readers did not know much about her except the fact that she was so eager for attention because Curley gave her little.

When she walked in on Lennie petting a dead puppy, she could see he was upset so she consoled him by saying to him “when I was a kid...Well a show came through, an' I met one of the actors. He says I could go with that show. But my ol' lady wouldn't let me. She says because I was on'y fifteen...If I'd went, I wouldn't be livin' like this, you bet.'  She later explains how her dream went away so fast when she meet Curley. She proved that she was more then just a flirty girl on a ranch, but she was a woman who had a goal in life. She later said “ Well, I ain’ told this to nobody before. Mabye I ought to. I don’ like Curley. He aint a nice fella.”  She had admitted to giving up on her dream to be with a man who did not respect her and give her attention.

Her, she still threatened to leave the ranch, so that was still always an option for her. George and Lennie, Candy, and Curley's wife all use there dreams to distract them from there lives. George and Lennie used their future farm as inspirtation to continue working hard and traveling toghter. Cadys used his dream of getting in on the farm with George and Lennie, as a way to distract him from his fear of being kicked of the farm from old age. Lastly Curleys wife used her dream of being an acctress inspiration for her to mabye get of the farm. All four characters from Of Mice and Men contnued to live through bad situations to reach there end goals, Which inspired them.