Dreams In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Dreams are what make life tolerable and what makes one stronger through the tough times. Throughout one's life, there will be certain individuals that doubt another’s ability to achieve their dream because they have lost hope in themselves. It is so easy for people to fall into a hole of misery that is so deep and painful, that they will never gain the strength to pull themselves out. An individual should never be pushed by their problems but be led by their dreams. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, clearly demonstrates the importance of dreams to living a fulfilled life. This can be shown through the experiences of the characters George and Lennie, Crooks, and through Curley's Wife.
In the novel Of Mice and Men, Lennie is a strong migrant

worker with a childlike dependency upon his friend George, who even though gets angry and frustrated with Lennie due to his actions, still wants to protect him from the harm of the world. Partially due to his mental disability, Lennie underestimates the power of his strength, which can cause even larger problems for George. Besides the setback of Lennie’s disabilities, the two men are united by their share of a dream to have a better life on a farm where they’re “gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs-- an’ live off the fatta the lan’” (14) as Lennie puts it. The Narrator expresses with this dream that it is reassuring George that there is still a glimmer of hope for his life ahead, because being a guardian to Lennie was an outcome that he had never predicted and had become very limited to what he could accomplish during his life. George knew that the land they could have would mean they wouldn’t have to keep running away from Lennie’s mishaps anymore and because George never gave up on his dream, he never abandoned Lennie. This aspect of George becomes an immensely important part at the end of the book when Lennie says, “ I thought you was mad at me, George?; “No, Lennie. I ain’t mad. I never been mad, an’ I ain’t now. That’s a thing I want ya to know”(106). Clearly Even though there might be roadblocks that prevent one from attaining their dream, they should never give up because the most difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.
From the moment Crooks is born, he has never been handed an easy life.

Being automatically judged by society for the color of his skin, Crooks outlook on life is nothing short of pessimistic. While working on the ranch, Crooks is isolated from the other men which made him feel very much disempowered, causing him to developed a bitter attitude. Crooks turned his vulnerability into a weapon to attack those who were even weaker than himself. “Just like heaven. Ever’body wants a little piece of lan’... Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. It's just in their head. They’re all the time talkin’ about it, but it’s jus’ in their head” (Steinbeck 74). Readers understand from this that Crooks didn’t know how to have dreams for himself because other people had continuously told him that he wouldn’t amount to anything and pretty soon, he began to believe in what they were saying. c “A guy needs somebody- to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you. I tell ya, I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick (76).” Perhaps what Crooks wanted more than anything else was to have a sense of belonging and to be accepted by the other men, which is why he offers to help George and Lennie on their dream land so that he could have something worth living

for.
Opening sentence about damaging effects on loneliness and dreams. In the novel Of Mice and Men, Curley’s wife demonstrates the damaging effects of loneliness. Curley’s wife once had ambitions and goals that she wanted to accomplish in her life, just as any other individual. This dream was to become an actress. She explains to Lennie that she met a man who said he was gonna put her in the movies and how he said she was a natural (88). However, the man and her desire of becoming an actor left as fast as it came, taking her ambition to live life along with it. Any spark that was still flickering inside her, grew fatigue and eventually was lost within the darkness. Curley’s wife relied too much on others to help her achieve her dreams. The narrator expresses that Curley's wife was unable to have any confidence in herself to pursue the things she wanted most in life. If one doesn't have the desire to live, then what are they really living for? As a result, she finds herself starving for attention that will never be given.