Dreams in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (Essay Example)

In Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, some main ideas can be related to the famous line of poet Robert Burns, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray, and leave us only grief and pain for promised joy.”. The lines of the poem are relevant to the story in the ways the themes are connected. In the beginning of the novel and throughout it, it was shown that George and Lennie specified, having a dream to open their own farm. This dream is George's promise of joy to Lennie, by telling him when they owned a farm he would let Lennie do and act as he pleases, unlike their previous work conditions. This was constantly brought up as an important point in the novel, but as the plot progressed conditions took a turn for the worst when Lennie killed Curly’s wife, leading to George killing Lennie to protect him from what the others would do to him. The entire thought of the dream was ripped away from the characters and the readers, and George’s promise was broken, and it had quickly turned into grieve and feeling of loosing his friend. This shows that the line from the poem is vaguely similar to the emotional feel of the novel. The world is shown as cruel and as a place where dreams cannot come true this is shown in The actions and thoughts of the character George, Lennie, and Candy, also shown the event surrounding these characters.

Firstly, in the book, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck credits the thought of the world being and seeming like a cruel place where dreams can’t come true. This illusion can be seen in the story, such as when George takes care of Lennie, they have been forced to flee and run away from their previous work due to Lennie’s actions. In pursuit, the similar events occur and George has to face the cruel reality that he may never buy the property for him and Lennie, that they have always dreamed about. This is shown when George has to kill Lennie as a result of everyone on the farm was after him for killing Curly’s wife. George knew that if they found Lennie, that they would be brutal with whatever they thought was the right punishment for Lennie’s actions. From the time George shot Lennie, the reader can infer that the dream of buying a ranch was no longer going to be looked at the same way, it was going to be viewed as a melancholy standpoint in which the characters never go to fulfill their dreams.

Secondly, we can look into Lennie’s case, he will never come by the chance to experience expression of how he truly wants to do certain activities. The whole idea of buying the ranch was so that Lennie wouldn’t evoke the pair in trouble, and fired as a result of the way he acts, considering what is shown in the beginning and the end of the story, the world being as cruel as it is shown will never accept Lennie for who he is. Even though Lennie doesn’t mean to cause the problems he does, and doesn’t understand that certain people may react crudely or in a harsh way for his actions. This then leads the reader to believe that Lennie has never and will never obtain the of experience calmness and peacefulness in his life. Never getting to see Lennie live the way he wants too, is very melancholy. The poor man has probably spent his entire life being told how to act, this can be referenced in the first few chapters, when George is constantly calling after Lennie, telling him what to do and when to do it. The world is very cruel to those who are unusual and aren't like the rest of us, maybe even leading to terrible endings. Poor Lennie ended up being killed by the one he trusted the most, and his dream of having freedom on the ranch with George was shattered.

Lastly, the third person that experiences the cruelness of the world is Candy. Candy is a old man, in fact he is the oldest worker on the ranch. Candy fears outliving his usefulness, since he had lost his hand in a work related accident. When Candy hears about George and Lennie wanting to buy  a plot of farm land, he pleads them to let him live with them, by offering his financial help. As the story progresses, Candy shows genuine excitement about the land that George and Lennie plan to buy, it gave him hope that he possibly could have somewhere to live where he won't need to worry about giving kicked off for his uselessness. Also, Candy, like Lennie, receives humilation for something he cannot control. For example around the farm he gets ridiculed for his physical disability, and old age, he also is a target for discriminated against for still having a place at the ranch. These dreams quickly diminish when he hears of what Lennie had done. He had attempted to blame Curly’s wife for her own death, but upon hearing that Lennie had accidentally killed her, he quickly realizes that the possibility of purchasing the land was now ruined. The cruel fact that Candy yet again has no guaranteed future security, he ends up right back where he started with the constant worry that he will be kicked off the ranch the moment he is useless.

In the end, George, Lennie, and Candy unfortunately have experienced the first-hand effect of the cruel world and the conditions it could put them in and the people around them. Though I believe that George’s actions can be justified and condemned, he has only killed Lennie to save him from what the other workers would have done to him. Lennie and George’s relationship in the story is viewed as the same as Candy and his dog’s relationship. Lennie just makes it difficult for George to keep up with every little problem, like Candy’s was dragged along but had no purpose and was just causing trouble for all the other workers. George killed Lennie on the thought that he was a threat to society, when he had just killed Curly’s wife, George was not going to let Lennie keep going and fleeing when he had already hurt so many and, he wasn't understanding the problems with his actions. Also, on the other hand, George could have just taken Lennie and Candy then fled to the property they were going to invest in and could’ve taught him that what he did was wrong. They could have found somewhere or some other place that could have worked. He didn’t have to release Lennie in a way that defies all laws of friendship, he was supposed to protect and take care of Lennie and, his actions prove that he wasn't able to fulfills his task.