Comparing George And Lennie In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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In John Steinbeck's novella, Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie are two ranch hands traveling for work during the Great Depression. During such a time of hopelessness, they are able to keep going with the thought of their dream to one day stop wandering and have a farm of their own. Throughout their journey to achieve their dream, they inspire some of the other ranch hands and realize just how powerful a dream is and the need of it as well as how easily it can be destroyed. George and Lennie are the advocates of the dream, although it means different things to each. For George, having their own place means independence, and the ability to do what he wants, when he wants, without having to determine it with a boss. “S’pose they was a carnival…show more content…
After his dog is killed and he no longer has the comfort of a companion to keep him company, Candy latches on to the idea of the dream to fill the void where his dead dog once was. “Maybe if I give you guys my money, you’ll let me hoe in the garden...an’ I’ll wash dishes an’ little chicken stuff like that...you seen what they did to my dog tonight? They says he wasn’t no good to himself nor nobody else. When they can me here I wisht somebody’d shoot me” (page 60). With the prospect of his life to come so grim, Candy is willing to give all his money to George and Lennie to buy a fixer-upper house and spend the rest of his days doing menial tasks, if only not to end up like his dog. Crooks, however, is not as optimistic that the dream will work, having had a history with men with big dreams and little success. ““I seen hundreds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches, with their bundles on their back an’ that same damn thing in their heads . . . every damn one of ’em’s got a little piece of land in his head. An’ never a God damn one of ’em ever gets it. Just like heaven. Ever’body wants a little piece of lan’. I read plenty of books out here. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land.” (page 74). Here, Crooks is bringing everyone back to reality, reminding that the dream is just that, a dream. That at the end of the day, there is no place for things that are

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