A Comparison Of Dreams In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

“All our dreams can come true if we have the courage and to pursue them.”-Walt Disney. We often persevere to achieve our goals but are held back by the slightest of things. Sometimes there is a minor setback that causes your dream to shatter and forces you to do something that you will regret. Steinbeck disrupts many characters’ dreams that all relate to the American Dream of the idea of having an equal opportunity to achieve your goals and prosper through your hard work and determination. Dreams can give you false hope and be destroyed easily, such as the dreams of Curley’s wife, George’s & Lennie’s, and Crooks’ in John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men.

With George and Lennie, the author proves how their fantasy of owning their own land

After Lennie accidentally kills his pup and Curley’s wife comes into the barn to talk to him she explains the story of how she was going to be an actor. “Well, a show once come 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 say because I was on’y fifteen.” Curley’s wife was given the opportunity to fulfill her life-long dream of being an actress but because of her mother, she was denied permission to become one which occurs after she meets one of the actors from the show. This means that her mother ruined her dream to be an actress. This reminds me of the time I wanted to go out on Halloween to go trick-or-treating with my

This relates to the theme of dreams because very important people can cause great difficulty in your life which also supports the idea of how dreams can be destroyed easily. Continuing with her story, Curley’s wife goes on about her story of another time where she was given the chance to be an actress but was declined permission again by her mother. “He says he was gonna put me in the movies…I never got that letter. I always thought my ol’ lady stole it… So I married Curley… Maybe I oughten to. I don’ like Curley.” She was given her last chance to pursue her dream when she met someone who was in the movies and had said that he would write back to her regarding her acting career, she had never received that letter believing that her mother stole it. This resulted in Curley’s wife never achieving her dream to be an actress. This raises the question of why her mother had stolen the letter because if your daughter is given the opportunity to be famous then why would you not give permission to let her be that famous person. Steinbeck implies how she was given a false hope of being an actress by her dream which relates to the American Dream because just as it is seen as ideal, her hard work and determination did not give her a chance at being an actress. The author clearly illustrates that when a dream is unachieved you always fall back and choose the easiest path that you feel will not hurt you again which is what