Of Mice and Men Paper Essay

Dreams can be that one thing that keeps us alive. The hope of that dream becoming real makes us feel like a big stable mountain which cannot break. Will, courage and hard work are all elements which can improve your life, just like the American dream. In John Steinbeck’s short novel, â€Å"Of Mice And Men† published in 1937, he describes how two men is chasing the American dream by believing that they can achieve their goals. In the story we see how two men, George and Lennie, desperately are trying to chase the American dream. We get an introduction of George and Lennie, and we quickly find out that George is the brain and Lennie is the strength. We are also aware of the reason why they left their work in the weed, which is Lennie’s accident by touching a girl’s dress. While they are on the move to a ranch where they want to find work, we also get an introduction to their big dream, a dream of owning their own farm. When they later on find work at a ranch, Lennie accidently kills the boss’s daughter-in-law and George makes an end to Lennie’s miseries by shooting him in the back of the head. George and Lennie make many friends along their journey. And some of them are willing to make sacrifices so they can join George and Lennie’s big dream. Some place in the story many characters including George and Lennie, confess that they have a dream. For instance Curly’s wife, before she dies she says that her biggest desire is to be a movie star. There is also a character like old Candy. He offers all his money and his inheritance to George so he can join their dream. Then we have the character like poor Crook. Crook is the black one on the ranch and his awareness of that fact shines through when he offers George to do the dirty work on the farm, just like doing the dishes. While all these dreams, sacrifices and ideas are being presented they all began to wonder. â€Å"They fell into a silence. They looked at one another, amazed. This thing they had never really believed in was coming true.† (P. 63. L. 13 – 15) This happens because it could be wonderful if the dream came true, but the question is, is the dream better of as a dream? Maybe something that they can believe in, which is so big and astonishing, is better than the tough reality? Then there are all the great expectations. The big dream that gives them hope would be ruined if the reality of the dream turns out to be a catastrophic disappointment. Those are thoughts running through their minds undergoing the silent gap. The choice of language is giving a certain impression about George’s thoughts of their dream. â€Å"I remember about the rabbits, George. The hell with the rabbits. That’s all you can ever remember is them rabbits.† (P.4, 5 l. 32-1) This is the place where we first hear about the dream of theirs. It seems like Lennie is more dedicated to this dream than George is. The fact that George says â€Å"them rabbits† gives the impression of what he really thinks of the dream, that it might be kind of foolish. Rabbits are often mentioned in the novel because they represent Lennie’s dream. This is noticed every time Lennie wants George to tell about their dream. To George, the farm, the eggs, the vegetables etc. are all dreams and happiness, but to Lennie happiness is having access to the rabbits. So Lennie is very eager about the rabbits, but he also has a habit of hurting the animals that he pets. Deep down, he knows that he is hurting them because he sees and hears this enormous, creepy and cruel rabbit, in the end of the story. This hallucination is his own mind speaking to him; his dream will never come true. Rabbits never actually emerge in the novel, but though they fill a great part. This really makes it clear to us, that Lennie’s dream will never come true. The dream falls apart and turns into dust after Lennie is dead, but until then everybody are very excited about it. By looking at the second quote we can conclude that it was Lennie’s dream all along. This is also why the others do not fulfill the dream. They rather want a hope and a dream they can escape into when the reality is cruel. They are aware of possible consequences of fulfilling the dream, but Lennie was not. The dream of having access to rabbits kept Lennie alive all along and nothing could break him. With the help of the hallucination of the enormous rabbit, he realizes that his dream will never come true. After that realization he dies.