Dreams in Of Mice and Men

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A Dream can be defined in as an ideal. The American dream is to be able to get by on your own, to be your own boss, to have a little piece of the world that is yours. Of Mice and Men. A 'Dream' can be defined in as an ideal. The American dream is to be able to get by on your own, to be your own boss, to have a little piece of the world that is yours. Throughout 'Of Mice and Men' there are a series of people, whose dreams have been shattered because of something, and then there is George and Lennie's dream, which at first seems plausible but then shatters just like all the others. George and Lennie are the main characters of the novel and therefore, their dream is the most prominent. It is their dream to one day, buy a farm of their own "An' live off the fatta the lan'," However, the dream after that is slightly split in two. It seems to be George's Dream to try and make Lennie happy over having his own farm, as in chapter one he says "First chance I get I'll give you a pup That'd be better than mice. And you could pet it harder". However, Lennie being 'child-like' in nature, seems to only want to be happy himself, as he threatens to leave on more than one occasion, "If you don' want me I can go off in the hills an' find a cave. I can go away anytime", and seems constantly infatuated with rabbits, instead of a farm. Candy is an old, white, cripple. While Candy does not describe his dream he believes that because he is a cripple, his dream cannot come true as he says "Jus' as soon as I can't swamp out no bunk-houses they'll put me on the county." This quote is Candy comparing himself to his dog, who because it couldn't work no more, was shot to put it out of its misery, and Candy himself says "When t... ... middle of paper ... ...ppen without Lennie, as after Lennie goes on the run George says "I think I knowed we'd never do her. He usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would." These two sentences usher in the suggestion that Lennie was the driving force behind the dream and without him, George does not have the will to complete the dream. It could be also seen as ironic that the dream that George does not believe can happen, is the one he uses to subdue Lennie while he shoots him. The book 'Of Mice and Men' has many examples of the 'American Dream'. However there is not a single dream in the book that succeeds, as there is always a flaw, such as what you are, what you do and what you don't do. All in all, the book suggests that the 'American Dream' cannot exist and that no matter how close it seems, there is always something ready to block the way to it.

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