Explore Some of the Ways Steinbeck Presents Dreams in of Mice and Men Essay Example
This is a novel of defeated hope and the harsh reality of the American Dream. George and Lennie are poor homeless migrant workers, doomed to a life of wandering and toil in which they are never able to reap the fruits of their labor. Their desires may not seem so unfamiliar to any other American: a place of their own, the opportunity to work for themselves and harvest what they sew with no one to take anything from them or give them orders. George and Lennie desperately cling to the notion that they are different from other workers who drift from ranch to ranch because, unlike the others, they have a future and each other. But characters like Crooks and Curley's wife serve as reminders that George and Lennie are no different from anyone who wants something of his or her own.
Lennie and George’s dream is presented by Steinbeck in order to convey their relationship:
“George. Tell me. Please, George. Like you done before”
This dream cannot exist without friendship. This is most demonstrable in the relationship between George and Lennie. Without the other, neither character would be able to maintain the dream. Lennie is constantly asking George to “tell about how it’s gonna be”. The constant repetition of the way things will be is what keeps the dream alive in Lennie. However, George needs Lennie just as much as Lennie needs him, which is apparent at the end of the novel. When George kills Lennie, he also kills the friendship, which results in the death of the dream within himself. Friendship is an underlying factor in the dreams of others as well. Candy, Crooks befriend George and Lennie when they learn of the possibility of owning land. They share the same dream as the two new workers, a dream that would have seemed impossible before the friendship began.
Lennie’s dream is introduced at the beginning of the novella through Steinbeck’s description of nature. During the novel's opening and closing chapters, Steinbeck describes the activity of the natural world.
Lennie and George’s dream is presented by Steinbeck in order to convey their relationship:
“George. Tell me. Please, George. Like you done before”
This dream cannot exist without friendship. This is most demonstrable in the relationship between George and Lennie. Without the other, neither character would be able to maintain the dream. Lennie is constantly asking George to “tell about how it’s gonna be”. The constant repetition of the way things will be is what keeps the dream alive in Lennie. However, George needs Lennie just as much as Lennie needs him, which is apparent at the end of the novel. When George kills Lennie, he also kills the friendship, which results in the death of the dream within himself. Friendship is an underlying factor in the dreams of others as well. Candy, Crooks befriend George and Lennie when they learn of the possibility of owning land. They share the same dream as the two new workers, a dream that would have seemed impossible before the friendship began.
Lennie’s dream is introduced at the beginning of the novella through Steinbeck’s description of nature. During the novel's opening and closing chapters, Steinbeck describes the activity of the natural world.