Firstly, dreams serve as a vital escape mechanism for the characters, to help them cope whilst living through the American Depression, where life is lonely and difficult. They are the foundations of what makes life worth living. George and Lennie’s dream means different things to both of them. ; Lennie is mainly concentrated on his childlike aspiration to ‘tend the rabbits’ due to his love of petting soft things, while the crux of the dream for George is to have ‘our own place where we belonged’ because he is desperate to work for himself and have people around him to which he belongs. George tells Lennie ‘You know all of it’, which shows the huge importance of their dream, that even forgetful Lennie has memorised it - they use their dreams as an escape from the harsh reality of life on the ranch.
Lennie starts to talk about the rabbits they're going to get, but Crooks just thinks he's crazy. Lennie tells Crooks if he doesn't believe him he can ask George. Crooks asks Lennie about travelling with George and if the two of them talk. Crooks becomes very excited when he realizes he can tell Lennie anything, because Lennie won't understand it. He tells Lennie how when he was young his father had a chicken ranch.
Paragraph 2- Curley's wife Talk about how she is always hanging around on the ranch, finding excuses to get out of the house. Contain references to the fact that she is the only woman on the ranch and that she is married to a man that she dislikes greatly. Refer to her being only just into her late teens. Mention how she, as well as crooks, opened up to Lennie because she was lonely. Also mention that she lied to herself and made herself believe that the man she met could really have put her in the pictures and that her mother had hidden the letters from Hollywood.
Jordan Houri 2/15/2012 Of Mice and Men Essay Mr. Wenger Symbols for the Impossibility of Dreams in Of Mice and Men In his 1937 novella, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck shows via numerous examples of symbolism that one can dream with as much ambition as possible, but, due to the restrictive nature of fate, these desires do not blossom. George always tells Lennie about their dream house. “O.K. Someday—we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs and—” (Steinbeck 14). The dream house is a particularly important aspect of the story because it is a symbol of how close someone can get to his goal after working extremely hard, just to have it all fall apart because fate would not allow it.
Throughout the entire book their goal is to someday own their own piece of land and never have to work for anyone again. Lennie’s obsession with tending the rabbits and feeding them alfalfa hay is his main motivation for living on their own land. Before George and Lennie got on the move to find another job they had to flee Weed, California because of a misunderstanding. Lennie was caught fondling and aggressively grabbing a woman in a red dress which caused her to scream out, resulting in George and Lennie getting chased out of town. The traveling companions were dropped off on the side of a road by a bus on their way to their new job.
George knows he won’t leave him but likes to threaten him. George plans for the two of them to work at the ranch and to save money so they can buy a house and a couple of acres of land and a farm and live off the land. When they get to the ranch, they meet a few people, the angry boss, his son Curley, Curley’s wife, “the old swamper” Candy, Slim and Crooks. Curley then becomes upset as he is starting to miss his wife. He then sees Lennie grinning and picks a fight with him.
The ways in which Candy’s dog and Lennie are treated in life and in death are the same. The continued existence of both has become offensive to the rest of the men. Lennie was to be lynched by Curley had George not done him a favour and done it the less way. Candy’s dog was killed because it discomforted others in the bunkhouse. Both were shot in the back of the head.
Lennie is the big man who thinks just like a child, and George is the small and strong man. George and Lennie travelled together and they are both migratory workers who keep seeking employment from one place to another during the Great Depression. Like most of the ranch hands they did not have a home and together they encourage each other with their dream of owning a homestead someday. They dream of owning a piece of land and a small house, where they will raise their own farm animals like cows and rabbits, grown vegetables and tend to the garden. They will have rabbits with different colors which Lennie always wants to pet in the future.
George tells the boss that Lennie got kicked in the head by a horse as a little kid and that’s why he is slow, so Lennie asks him if it is true and George says that it would be a good thing and it would “save everybody a hell of a lot of trouble.” (Steinbeck 23). Since George said this it makes it seem like he doesn’t want to spend that much time with Lennie. Over all, George has a tendency of putting Lennie down intentionally. In chapters two and three George is really quick to judge Curley’s wife on the ranch. From the minute George sees Curley’s wife he already has a bad impression of her.
Of Mice and Men * Author * John Steinbeck * Main Characters * George is a small man that travels with and cares for Lennie. Although George says how much better his life would be without Lennie, George continues to take care and protects him. * Lennie is a big guy with a mild mental disability and travels with and completely depends on George. He and George have a dream of having their own farm where he can take care of the rabbits but he does not realize his own strength. He often pets soft things and kills them, not realizing it.