Explore the ways the theme of thwarted dreams and aspirations is developed in of mice and men.
Steinbeck’s novella “Of Mice and Men” contains a central theme in which the main characters, Lennie and George reach for; a dream. The two protagonists sought for a dream similar to that of the American dream which is a privately owned piece of land in which they can live off, instead of wandering aimlessly across the country looking for work.
“George’s voice became deeper. He repeated his words rhythmically as though he had said them many times before. Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place. They come to a ranch an’ work up a stake and then they go inta town and blow their stake.”
The quote above is the start of George’s spoken account of his dream which includes Steinbeck’s general impression of the American people who lived throughout that period. The quote is a prime example of Steinbeck giving his opinion of society by implementing it into the voice of his characters. Furthermore the author introduces the central theme of the dream through that of a story: “George’s voice became deeper. He repeated his words rhythmically as though he had said them many times before.” The dream is framed as if it is that typical story told around a campfire; like a legend passed down by many generations. The way that the George is described as having repeated the story many times increases the concept that the story has been said many times. What’s more is that Steinbeck does reiterate the dream but through the mouths of other characters but every time it is reiterated the dream, the reiteration is both more exaggerated and closer to being achieved.
Certain language features inside this quote explain the nature of the two protagonists. Such as the fact that the word and has an apostrophe. This is colloquial speech that strengthens the idea that the book is set in another time, other to that of modern America and that both characters are workers. Yet the greatest feeling that is induced by this is that of friendship. Colloquial language is used by friends as they trust that they both understand each other and will be relaxed if anything is said differently also meaning that they see a lot of each other, in this case they practically live with each other.
What’s more is that this first paragraph is foreshadow. The ending of the book leaves everything in this paragraph to become true and thus creating the effect of irony at the end of the book. This effect is amplified throughout the book similarly to the way that the dream is. Which is Steinbeck’s message: The closer that you get to achieve your dream, the further away it becomes.
“But you ain’t gonna get in no trouble, because if you do, I won’t let you tend the rabbits.”
This quote is George’s instruction to Lennie to not cause anything to go wrong within this ranch. The line itself is quite a childish one. Already the reader can tell that there is something mentally wrong with Lennie as Lennie is portrayed as a childish brute who in lack of intelligence who causes his best friend to become stricken with regret due to the fact that they have been sent roaming around the country due to Lennie causing trouble. However George seems to at the start of the book to lack the wit to leave his friend hence:
“If you don’ want me I can go off in the hills an’ find a cave. I can go away any time.
No-look! I was jus’ foolin’, Lennie ‘Cause I want you to stay with me. Trouble with mice is you always kill ‘em.”
There is abundant ironic foreshadow here, as the starting set of the book is also the ending set of the book where both times includes the idea of Lennie leaving George except that in this case George refuses and the next time George causes Lennie to leave this world. George also seems to really care for his partner due to the fact he is shouting and passionately stating how he wants Lennie to stay, which is somewhat out of character for George as he is commonly inexpressive of his emotions whereas Lennie is the complete opposite. This is shown by the exclamation mark and overstatement: “No-look! I was jus’ foolin’.”
Another reoccurring factor would be the fact that in both this quote and the last Lennie is always referred to with the word trouble. Which is Steinbeck’s implementation of foreshadow and clever use of repetition in language to give the effect that Lennie is dangerous, even though he hasn’t done anything wrong yet. Foreshadowing the complete inevitability of Lennie causing trouble at the ranch and jeopardising the dream they sought for.
The dream of Lennie and George is one that is not individual to them but is shared by many ranch members alike such as Candy. “Maybe if I give you guys money, you’ll let me hoe in the garden … You seen what they done to my dog tonight? They says he wasn’t good to himself nor nobody else. When they can me I wish’t someone shoot me.” At this point in the book George and Lennie have settled into the life of a ranch member in Soledad which means solitude in Spanish. This one word is Steinbeck referring to both the great depression, the time at which it is set and that the land itself is sick and lonely and possibly a way to pass the idea that the whole of America is sick with loneliness and with that, all that comes with it, fear, sadness, depression, regret and anger. The fact that George and Lennie’s dream resides with each other causes it to become another method of foreshadow. This is a language feature that conceals the meaning of the book in plain sight; possibly referring to the message of the whole book in a nutshell.
Candy in the quote above is announcing his deal to give George and Lennie the money they need to achieve their dream as long as he has a part of it. However Candy also mentions that due to the fact that his dog was killed by Carlson, he is most likely going to end up in the same way. Steinbeck is referring to the prejudice of the old; they are useless and might as well be “shot down like a dog”. This is also the time of the realisation of the dream and how close they are to achieving it. “In one month. Right squack one month.” This is George announcing the time it would take to achieve their dream, causing the reader to
This could be counted as Steinbeck giving his message that if you have prejudice against the undesirable, the undesirable may not help you in the future. Carlson however not containing prejudice didn’t recognise the emotional value that Candy shared with his dog and through ignorance killed his dog without any idea of how Candy felt, this is in a way prejudice against Candy even out of ignorance. In all Steinbeck gives all the characters inside the book an underlying relationship to the reality of the great depression. Candy is the Old and feeble, Lennie is the mentally disabled and George is simply the everyday guy. They are all playing different roles yet are unified under the dream, similar to that of the American dream.
Later on the paragraph Lennie is confronted by Curly, a lightweight champion who has a disliking to those who are larger than him. Curly has a hot temper, most likely to conceal his weakness that he’s a lightweight champion and therefore gets annihilated by heavyweight in the ring. Irritated through this genetic weakness Curly strikes Lennie who was instructed by George to not cause any trouble which causes him to be reluctant to strike back. Curly does this to conceal his weakness and show that he can beat a bigger guy.
Weakness is another theme in the book in which all characters choose to conceal as George tries to hide Lennie’s mental disability or Candy’s and his attachment to his dog. Steinbeck voices this message through Curly’s wife “You’re all scared of each other, that’s what.
Relation to Lennie’s inevitability to keep out of trouble and thus the destruction of dreams.
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