The various characters in Of mice and men. Essay Example for Free

The various characters in Of mice and men. Essay Discuss the importance of dreams of the various characters in Of mice and men. Do any of these characters have a realistic opportunity to realise their dreams? Of mice and men is a novel written by John Steinbeck set in the 1930s. John Steinbeck was born on the 27th February 1902 in Salinas, California. Of mice and men mainly focuses on loneliness and isolation. I will have to consider the importance of dreams of various characters in Of mice and men and do they have a realistic opportunity to realise their dream. Many of the characters have dreams in this novel, big dreams, wild dreams all sorts of dreams but I am only going to talk about the following characters: George and Lennie, Curleys wife, and Candy. George and Lennie share a dream of settling in a farm house and looking after animals and doing what any other people would do. During the story their dream is also shared by candy known as the swamper. I think that if Lennie and George didnt have a dream, they wouldnt have had the enjoyable time in their lives that they had even though Lennie was a big problem to George. If they never shared the same dream, I think that George would have left Lennie when the first time Lennie caused a problem. But one reason that George continued to stay with Lennie is because George knew that Lennie on his own would get into trouble and eventually die. George also knows that if he leaves Lennie, he is going to become a lost and a awful person, George says I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. After along time they get mean. They get wantin to fight all the time. From this we know that George wouldnt want to leave Lennie because what could happen to him, he is scared of the bad things that could happen to him so he needs to have a companion, and that is one way to achieve the goal of their dream. Basically George realises from the beginning that their dream could come true, because from the point when George, Lennie and Candy decided how they can collect the money and then they are sorted, but there is a problem, it is Lennie, Lennie doesnt understand anything due to his mental immaturity and therefore he acts like a child. George is scared that Lennie will do something wrong, something that will ruin their dream to become a success. One thing that is interrupting Lennie from doing well is Curleys wife. At the end of the story, George, Lennie, and Candys dream is destroyed by Lennie because of his immaturity and thoughtlessness. With his own mind Lennie took the wrong path, by talking to Curleys wife and that ended up into a death and a ruined dream that will never come true. It was not her fault because she is already isolated by the other workers and obviously she would want to talk to someone. We know hat the dream is ruined. After her death is discovered by candy he tells George about it and when George goes to tell the other workers candy is left alone with Curleys wife, he says to the dead lady you god damn tramp,you done it, dint you? I spose youre glad. Everybody knowed youd mess things up. You wasnt no good. You aint no good now.you lousy tart. Candy lets out all his anger and says all these bad things to her even though she wasnt the person the ruined their dream, she was the means of their dream to be ruined. After letting all his anger out candy states I could of hoed in the garden and washed dishes for them guys, this is one major speech that indicates us that their dream is truly finished. Curleys wife has a big dream of becoming an movie star with a life of luxury. She is one of the main characters that suffers loneliness and isolation, her big dream is to go to Hollywood and become and actress, nevertheless her mother may have had stopped her from going and realising her dream to become an actress. Her dream is one big source that keeps her occupied at all times, and that is why she is still with Curley. She misleads herself and then could of never gone to Hollywood, she says could of went with shows. Her vision is to be famous, eye-catching, recognised and well known, I think she has a dream to keep her away from isolation and loneliness. The marriage between Curley and his wife, kept her realising and questioning her dream. If Curleys wife admitted to herself that she is a failure and hadnt an ounce of acting in her, she wouldnt of been able to hold her marriage with Curley any more because she always dreams that she will be an actor some day that it goes to an extent that it become a part of her normal character. When Lennie kills her, her dream is put to an end. Candy is one of the workers that was made a permanent residence on the ranch. Candy is known as the old swamper. He himself knows himself that he will be getting kicked out soon. I think that he knows that George and Lennie are good people so he wants to really share the same dream with them, this is because of his old age and I think that candy feels isolated because of his age difference from the other workers. He realises that their dream can come true if only Lennie doesnt do anything dumb which he does and destroys their dream.