Essay The Futility of Dreams in John Steinbecks Of Mice...

The Futility of Dreams in Of Mice and Men Everyone has a dream they hope to achieve, but dreams are not always possible to attain. In John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men, two ranch hands, George and Lennie, find work in Salinas Valley. Lennie, constantly getting into trouble, inadvertently causes the two of them to be run out of town and thus have to find new work regularly. George and Lennies search for work in the hope of accomplishing their dream of a small farm of their own displays how futile realizing dreams can be. The major themes identified by commentators in Of Mice and Men are friendship and isolation, hope and futility(Votteler 334). Through George and Lennies friendship, the hope to achieve their dream is†¦show more content†¦George holds Lennie in check by telling him about the farm and the condition that if he is good he will be allowed to tend the rabbits on the farm. The dream was originally designed by George as a way to try to get Lennie to be good, but after many times of repeating it, he begins to believe it himself(Moore 341). George uses Lennie to sustain his own dream of the farm, that if he didnt believe that Lennie needed him for protection his illusion would dissipate under the pressures of the workday world(Marks 354). George and Lennie come to work in the Salinas Valley where they are on the brink of achieving their dream or doom(Moore 341). The itinerant workers hope to get the farm they dream of with the money earned from working on the ranch(Doren 335). Curleys wifes dream of becoming a famous movie star in Hollywood is as real to her as Lennies dream of tending the rabbits is to him(Beatty 362). George and Lennie are not like the other ranch hands in their friendship for each other and proves to be so unusual that it brings hope to the bunkhouse keeper, Candy, and Crooks, for the possibility that the dream of a home on their own farm could be fulfilled(Dusenbury 346). The unexpected offer of three hundred dollars by Candy suddenly convinces George that their dream may finally be attained(Shurgot 365). Crooks wants this dream, that is unattainable by himself, so badShow MoreRelatedThe Pursuit of the American Dream in John Steinbecks Of Mice and Men1967 Words   |  8 PagesOf Mice and Men is a short novel about the story of two migrant workers who are best friends during the Great Depression (Goldhurst 49). The setting is the Salinas Valley in California, and the majority of the characters are unskilled migratory workers who do what their name implies. They travel from towns and ranches and farms looking for work and eventually move on to find another job. 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The main question that this work asks when the story is told is â€Å"is man destined to live alone, a solitary wanderer on the face of the earth, or is it the fate of man to care for man, to go in his wayRead MoreOf Mice And Men By John Steinbeck2184 Words   |  9 Pagesâ€Å"Of Mice and Men† is a novella written by John Steinbeck in the 1930’s and he used the line from an 18th Century poem by Robert Burns as the title of the story. â€Å"Of Mice and Men† (â€Å"OMaM†) as a title foreshadows the idea portrayed by Burns in his poem â€Å"To a mouse† because in this poem the mouse’s house was destroyed in an accidental mistake which implies dreams being shattered and depression along with death following as a result. Loneliness is a key theme in this book which outlines the harsh life