In 1937 Steinbeck shows the harsh reality of the American dream, in his book "Of Mice and Men". At that time life was hard, and people had to hold on to their dream as it made it easier to accept reality and the difficult circumstances. Steinbeck has made the dreams of his main characters, difficult ones to achieve. The 1930's was a very difficult period, because there was massive unemployment, as banks collapsed, this was called the Great Depression, there was 25% unemployment Climate also changed, there was a draught, which caused land to dry up, this led to food shortages.
Due to all this, people who could work had to travel to different places as far as California. I think its fair to say, that during this background of unemployment and poverty, the dreams of many men were hard to achieve. In this essay I am going to explain why Steinbeck feels it is important to present the lives of people, whose dreams never come true and how dreamers suffer the most.Steinbeck's main characters George and Lennie, have a very hard life and throughout the novel their dream is told over and over again "An I could build a smoke house like the one gran-pa had" George is a quick witted person, who dreams of owning his own ranch, Lennie is considered big, he is mentally immature, and his dream is to tend rabbits and live on a ranch with George.Before George and Lennie travel to the ranch, there is an incident at Weed, where Lennie is accused of raping a women, therefore they flee and find work on another ranch, which is where their dream seems to become true, but the dream is wrecked when Lennie kills Curley's wife, and George has no choice but to kill Lennie himself in order to save him from being killed by Curley.
George and Lennie's dream is repeated throughout the novel.Their dream is to own their own ranch, and for Lennie to tend the rabbits " Someday we're gonna get the jack together and we're gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an' a cow and pigs" " An live off the fatta the lan" "An have rabbits" This shows us George and Lennie's dream is to own their own ranch and live off the fatta the lan. The dream would be extremely hard to achieve maybe even impossible due to the Great Depression but its what kept George and Lennie going. The dream meant independence, power and an easy life compared to others.
The dream was so powerful it attracted Candy and even convinced Crooks. This is where the dream seems to become true and not a dream anymore, Candy has money saved up and George and Lennie do aswell, combined together and another month of work they will have enough to buy a ranch for themselves. However Lennie killing Curley's wife, George has no choice but to kill Lennie himself. Near the end of the novel Candy asks George if the dream is still possible without Lennie, George is doubtful, this shows Lennie was needed for the dream and without him there is no dream.Steinbeck chose to make the dream seem to come true but at the last minute make something disastrous happen so the dream cannot come true, which also shows the hard life of people living in America during the time of the Great Depression Curley's wife is included in the novel because Steinbeck was trying to show that life was even harder for women in 1930s America. Curley's wife is noticeably disliked by many of the characters throughout the novel.
They view her as "a loo loo" and "a jailbait" and like other characters she is isolated and lonely from when she says, "Seems like they ain't none of them cares how I gotta live.I ain't used to living like this" this shows she doesn't like her life and think she deserves something better. She to has a dream, it is mentioned when she explains it to Lennie of her dream of becoming an actress and how it probably will not come true "I coulda made something of myself...
Maybe I will yet" This shows that even a women like Curley's wife who is hated and disliked can have dreams. Throughout the novel Curley's wife is always referred as "Curley's wife" she is never given a name.I think the reason why Steinbeck does not give Curley's wife a name of her own is because as a women she is disadvantaged and considered as lower in society, which also makes the odds of her dreams becoming true even harder. Tragically Lennie kills Curley's wife when she offers him to touch her hair and Lennie doesn't let go, she starts screaming and Lennie breaks her neck. Another key character in the novel is called Crooks.
Steinbeck creates a character like Crooks to show how racist and unfair Southern American society could be in the 1930s.Crooks is black, he is given the name "Crooks" as he got kicked by a horse and always hunches and rubs liniment on his back. He is socially segregated so therefore lives on his own in a harness room with the horses. He feels isolated and unwanted all because he is black "They play cards in there, but I cant play because I'm black, they say I stink, well I tell you, you all of you stink to me" this may also suggests he wants to play cards and be socially involved, however because he is black he is segregated.
Another quote which was from Crooks to Lennie "This is just a nigger talking an a busted-back nigger. So it don't mean nothing, see? " this proves that its like he doesn't exist and no one cares about how he feels or what he wants. Crooks isn't shown to have a dream, maybe because he's black so its limited in what he can do. Another important detail is when Crook's room is described it mentions that he has books, a pair of glasses and a California civil code.This may suggest Crook's is smart and knows his rights.
A key part is also when Lennie goes into Crook's room; Crook's first reaction is "You got no right to come to my room. This here's my room. Nobody got any right un here but me" this shows Crook's knows his rights. Lennie explains himself and how he was looking for his puppy, Crooks then says "Come on in and set a while" this shows Crook's wants company, he's so isolated and lonely, but now is his chance to finally have some company.This is where Candy also reveals the dream to Crooks, at first Crooks is very sceptical of it, however when Candy says they almost have enough money to make it come true, Crooks is suddenly enlightened, he says " If you guys want a hand to working for nothing-just his keep. I ain't so crippled I cant work like a son-of-a-bitch" this shows he wants to be part of that dream to escape his segregated life on the ranch.
However Curley's wife then come into Crook's room and puts him in his place "Well, you keep your place then, Nigger.I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain't even funny" this crushes Crook's hope of being a part of the dream and puts him back into reality. The last character is Candy, he is handicapped, after losing a hand. He is elderly and is also lonely after his dog is killed.
Candy doesn't have anything to live for, he isn't shown to have any friends or family, he doesn't have a dream either. However when he hears about George and Lennie's dream, he offers to put some money in, and be part of that dream, it is then when the dream seems to become true.The language Steinbeck uses to describe the way that Crooks has given up on his dream of joining George and Lennie. It Is after Curley's wife reminds Crooks that she could get him strung up that he gives up on his dream. Steinbeck describes how Crooks "reduced himself to nothing but he also "Closed into himself" The fact that he reduces himself shows that being black in the 1930s meant you were least powerful in society, therefore dreaming was not a right, you weren't allowed to talk back and you were socially segregated.
He uses words to create different effects such as "right" which is said by Crooks, this shows Crooks is very defensive and knows his rights. I think Steinbeck uses these phrases to show the reader how powerless, unimportant and tiny Crooks felt. Overall, Steinbeck writes about characters who's dreams will never come true, as he wanted to show how hard life was at that time and how holding onto a dream is important as it helps escape from reality.Curley's wife dream of becoming an actor never came true, the fact that she was a women and she was disadvantaged made it even hard, the odds of her dream coming true was very unlikely.
Crook's dream only lasted for a couple of minutes of joining Candy, George and Lennie's dream, however its crushed when Curley's wife puts him in his place. Most importantly George and Lennie's dream of one day owing their own ranch and tending rabbits, almost seemed to come true, you would think they would finally achieve their goal, however when Lennie kills Curley's wife, the dream starts to crumble.When George goes to find Lennie Candy asks if the dream will still happen, George is doubtful. This shows that Lennie was the base of the dream, the person keeping it going and without him it wouldn't be the same. Steinbeck shows that everyone has a dream, especially how hard it was to achieve, this makes me feel how much easier I can achieve my dreams as opposed to the 1930s, with the Great Depression making it almost impossible to achieve anything.
