The Importance of Dreams in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men

The Importance of Dreams in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men

'Of Mice and Men' was written in early 1936 by John Steinbeck. The New

York Wall Street stock market crash in 1929 led to high economic

depression and unemployment throughout America. Steinbeck's book

describes the life of two migrant workers, Lennie and George, and

their struggle to find work in California during the depression. To

escape the severity of the era many migrant workers concentrated on

and dwelt in the 'American Dream', the vision of owning their own

piece of land, working for themselves, not having to sell their

labour, and existing on the 'fat of the land.' Dreams, similar to

literature, are a way of escaping the harsh reality of the present and

escaping to an idealised future, through your imagination.

Lennie Small and George Milton have had to leave their work in Weed

due to a misunderstanding of Lennies' intentions concerning a girl in

a red dress. Forced to flee without their wages, it would seem that

their chances of establishing enough money for completing their dream

is improbable. The two, however, are offered employment in a ranch for

one hundred dollars a month. Throughout the story when the present is

bleak and their future appears unwelcoming the two escape into their

shared dream, into the 'American Dream'. Lennie Small, contrary to his

name is incredibly big and strong though he is simple and somewhat

restricted mentally. George on the other hand is small and quick with

a sharp brain. The two are an unlikely pair but have an extremely

strong friendship, George explains when re-telling their dream:

'guys like us, that work on ranches, are t...

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...'American Dream' is crushed

in this story and this backs up what Crook's said to Lennie about

migrant workers:

'I see hundreds of men come by on the road an' on the ranches with

their bindles on their back an' the same damn thing in their heads.

Hundreds of them. They come, an' they quit an' they go on; an' every

damn one of 'em's got a little piece of land in his head. An' never a

God damn one of them ever gets it. Just like heaven.'

Here, in this passage, Crooks even claims there is inequality in

heaven and so destroys the eternal dream that, that represents. This

story illustrates that there are no dreams and no points in dreams for

they shall be flattened, as it says in the poem 'To a Mouse' dreams

are hopeless, you can't see into the future and you shouldn't dwell in

the past, instead, live in the present.