Warren French writes, “The world just hasn’t been made right, so that dreams are the only things that can keep men going.” Agree or disagree with this statement. I remember a time in my life when I would always play with little children. At that point, at the age of six or seven, I decided to become a pediatrician or a kindergarten teacher. When I started high school, I started feeling stressed out because of the pressure that I was doing to myself to reach my goal of becoming a pediatrician. I could hardly focus on the topic we would have during class because I would be thinking about my future as a pediatrician. With the help of my friends, they helped me overcome the obstacles that I had. The more I thought about what profession I wanted to be, I thought about how much I loved working and dealing with computers. My friends and cousins told me that I should and can be what ever I wanted, and that helped me decide to major in computer engineering at San Jose State University. So you see when it comes down to life, dreams are not the only thing that can keep men going, friendships, pets and companionships can do the same. In the novel Of Mice and Men Lennie, George, and Candy demonstrate and prove that dreams are only one of the things that can keep men going. “Lennie, for God sakes don’t drink so much….You gonna be sick like you was last night….I ain’t sure its good water. Looks kinda scummy.” (page 3). George is so concerned with Lennie that he tells him to be careful of what he drinks because he does not know if it is good or contaminated. He tells him that so Lennie will not get sick and so that they can save up for their dream house. “I want you to stay with me, Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebody’d shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself. No, you stay with me. Your Aunt Clara wouldn’t like you running off by yourself, even if she was dead.” (page 13). After Lennie and George fight over the dead mouse, Lennie tells him that George would be better off if Lennie went to the mountains to live in a cave. George doesn’t let him. He tells him that he wants him to stay because not only did George somewhat promise Lennie’s dead Aunt Clara that he would take care of him, but he also learned how to live and adjust with the fact that Lennie has kind of a childish mind.
Should George have shot his friend Lennie? George probably did the right thing by shooting Lennie. How can we condemn George for sparing his friend Lennie the pain and fear of being killed by someone else? He did something society sees as wrong, but he did it for a good reason. Lennie didn’t deserve to die, but there was no other alternative. Curley wanted to kill Lennie, and since George cared for Lennie, he figured the best thing would be for him to put Lennie out of his misery.
As George becomes aware of the situation he begins to ponder what will happen if Lennie gets away. George understands that Lennie would not be capable of providing for himself out in the wild. As George contemplates allowing Lennie to be free of all the men, he “[is] a long time in answering” (94). George is one of the few men who understands Lennie’s mental limitations, he knows Lennie would not remember how to survive and “the poor bastard’d starve” (94). He
In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck portrays dreams as being unattainable. Most of the characters in the book want to have something of their own to be happy but most of their dreams are never fulfilled because of different factors. Even Crooks the stable buck knew that dreams are never really attainable. After lennie tells crooks about the land crooks says “Ever’body wants a little piece of lan’... and nobody gets no land”(pg 74). Crooks who as seen many men with the same dreams as george knew it was never really attainable.
Lennie's stupidity and carelessness constantly causes him to unintentionally harm people and animals. When he gets into sticky situations, George is there to help him get out of them. Ever since Lennie's Aunt Clara died, George has felt that he has a sense of duty
“You seen what they did to my dog tonight? They says he wasn’t no good to himself nor anybody else. I wish somebody’d shoot me when I ain’t no good no more.”(60) Candy spoke these words implying that death is better than being no good to himself or anybody else. The same is true for Lennie. Lennie wasn’t good for himself because he couldn’t survive on his own. He can’t stay out of trouble and without George he would have been dead a long time ago. He’s no good to others because he doesn’t now his own strength and can’t control himself. He had murdered a woman because of his curiosity and his self-uncontrollability.
Disappointment is someone being sad or mad about something they have done or failed to do. Disappointment can be caused by other people’s actions. In the book “Of Mice And Men” by John Steinbeck, the characters of Crooks, Candy, and Curly’s wife all suffer from disappointment of life. Crooks suffer from disappointment from how nobody wants to play or talk to him just because he is black. Also Curly’s Wife suffers because women don’t have that much of rights so she gets treated badly. Candy gets also treated badly because he is old and only has one hand to use so he can’t do that much work. All of the people in the book get treated badly because the book “Of Mice and Men” is made during the time period that the great depression was so there wasn’t that much of rights towards women and black people.
In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck brings out the themes of Lonliness and companionship, and strengths and weaknesses through the actions, and quotations of the characters. Irony and foreshadowing play a large roll on how the story ends. Lennie and his habit of killing things not on purpose, but he is a victim of his own strength. George trying to pretend that his feelings for Lennie mean nothing. The entire novel is repetitive in themes and expressed views.
Throughout four different text there is a recurring idea that connects to how dreams motivate people to improve themselves. These four texts are, the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the film The Great Gatsby directed by Baz Luremann, the documentary Hoop Dreams by Steven James and the film Sweeney Todd directed by Tim Burton.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a riveting book which includes many intriguing scenes but one in particular is compelling. This is the scene where the readers witness the death of Curley’s wife. In the beginning of this scene, Lennie is sitting by himself in the barn mourning over the death of his puppy. He is trying to talk himself out of feeling guilty for killing his dog. Similar to all his pet mice, Lennie didn’t realize his own strength and killed it by accident. As he is talking to himself in the desolated barn, Curley’s wife sneaks in behind him. She kneels down next to him and attempts to start a normal conversation with him. As she is talking, she asks about the dead puppy and Lennie tells her his story. As Curley’s wife continues talking, she tells him about her dead acting career until Lennie begins talking about liking to pet soft things. Lennie’s hand ends up on her hair and when she jerks away afraid, his hand closed on her hair and hung on. As she began to yell, he covered up her mouth to muffle the noise. Once again Lennie, not knowing his own strength, managed to break Curley’s wife’s neck and eventually killed her. As Candy and George are coming into the barn, Lennie goes and hides knowing he did a bad deed. The scene ends with all the men leaving the barn to hunt down Lennie. This is a significant scene because of the culpability of multiple characters along with the significance of the scene in comparison to the rest of the novel.
Many tell us to keep dreaming. To chase our dreams until they come true, and that the unattainable can always be achieved with enough pursuance. Is this saying really true? In the novella Of Mice and Men, the story follows the life of two immigrants, George and Lennie. Lennie a gigantic man with a mental infirmity travels with a man named George, they dream of owning a farm, and living off of the land and thus only working for themselves. With Lennie’s disability, he repeatedly gets into trouble. As result, both Lennie and George flee from their old town, Weed, to find new jobs in the hopes to collect enough money to buy a piece of land. They find employment as barley buckers on a ranch and meet the other workers, Candy, and old swamper who’s hand is missing, Crooks, a black man with a bad back, and the only woman on the ranch, who is Curley, the boss’s son’s wife. Not long after does Lennie get into trouble once again. He breaks the neck Curley’s wife and runs to the stream where George told him to go if he were to get in any trouble. George then shoots Lennie in the back of his head to end him of his misery. They could not live by constantly running. Throughout the novel, a motif of unachievable American dreams is presented. American dreams are always a thirst, and although they are highly sought out, several unfortunately never make it to reality.
Dreams, even those that are unrealistic, encompass and motivate everyone. In the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck each main characters possess their own dream to propel them forward and each of these dreams are cleverly utilized by Steinbeck to present his theme of the great depression ripping dreams asunder. In order to determine whether the major dreams were destroyed, one must analyze what each dream was, the realistic possibilities, the motivation for each and the opposing forces. George and Lennie’s dream of a future life seems quite possible as they are motivated and are close to their goal; however upon closer inspection it the impossibility of their quest is discovered. The second major dream Curley’s wife’s dream is presented as a failure and after investigation the reader comprehends why. Thus, each of the important dreams feature senses of reality due to their necessity to the character, but are easily suspended as the characters continue their path in life.
In the short story Of Mice & Men human temptation shows us how it can take a man down at his greatest moment no matter how high he is. Throughout the story examples of human temptation causing man to fail is seen quite often, most particularly with Lennie. Human temptation causes the best laid plans and dreams to fail because temptation is something not everyone can always resist. George and Lennie have the plan of “living of the fat of the land one day” but because of Lennies temptation to touch soft things it causes Lennie to give in and ruin their dream of a better life.
George wanted to be alone, away from Lennie because he could earn a lot more money without worrying about Lennie. George wants Lennie gone so he could live life without getting into so much trouble like Lennie does. When Lennie gets into trouble then they both get into trouble. George needed Lennie gone in general weather he had to kill him or
In Of Mice and Men, it seems an incontrovertible law of nature that dreams should go unfulfilled. From George and Lennie’s ranch to Curley’s wife’s stardom, the characters’ most cherished aspirations repeatedly fail to materialize. However, the fact that they do dream—often long after the possibility of realizing those dreams has vanished—suggests that dreaming serves a purpose in their lives. What the characters ultimately fail to see is that, in Steinbeck’s harsh world, dreams are not only a source of happiness but a source of misery as well.
George’s relationship with Lennie has made him selfless; his conversations, with and with out Lennie, are generally revolving around Lennie, although in the case of their dream-ranch George seems to find fulfilment for himself as well. Due to these altruistic tendencies that he shows throughout the novel, a danger is bestowed upon George; he tends to care for Lennie far too much, and too little for himself. In occasional moments, he escapes his sympathy and compassion for Lennie, and realises the burden that he causes. This usually results in George taking his frustration out on Lennie, which can often harm his simple mind, leaving Lennie upset and forced to confess to his own uselessness, and George feeling guilty for what he has caused. We can learn very little about George through his actual conversations, which made it necessary for Steinbeck to focus the novel on him in particular, and let the reader gain an closer insight on him through his actions. Generally, he seems to be caring, intelligent and sensible, but is greatly worn by the constant attention Lennie requires. This illustrates a major theme in Of Mice and Men, the dangers that arise when one becomes involved in a dedicated relationship.