Of Mice and Men - Theme of Dreams Flashcards
A quotation showing George and Lennie’s dream
“‘An’ live off the fatta’ the lan’,’ Lennie shouted, ‘An’ have rabbits!’”
A quotation showing that Candy gives George and Lennie hope they might achieve their dream
“S’pose I went in with you guys? Tha’s three hundred an’ fifty bucks I’d put in. I aint much good , but I could cook and tend the chickens and garden some. How’d that be?”
A quotation showing that migrant workers share the same dream
“They come an’ they quit an’ go on; an’ 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.”
A quotation showing Lennie’s reaction to killing Curley’s wife
“Lennie said, ‘I might just as well go away. George aint gonna let me tend no rabbits now.’”
A quotation showing George acknowledging that the dream was never going to happen
“I think I knowed from the very first. I think I knowed we’d never do her. He usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we could.”
A quotation showing George’s decision to kill Lennie
“And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head. The hand shook violently, but his face set.”
Analysis of “‘An’ live off the fatta’ the lan’,’ Lennie shouted, ‘An’ have rabbits!’”
George tells Lennie the story of their dream as if it were a bedtime story for a child. This reinforces the dynamics of George and Lennie’s relationship with George as the leader or parental figure.
Their dream is simple - they want to have their own farm and be able to live off their own produce.
This dream stems from the fact that, currently, they have no home of their own and have to work hard for any money and something to eat. The dream would change their life from one of hardship to one of simplicity but plenty.
Analysis of “S’pose I went in with you guys? Tha’s three hundred an’ fifty bucks I’d put in. I aint much good , but I could cook and tend the chickens and garden some. How’d that be?”
Candy is willing to give Lennie and George all the money he has in order to come in on the dream.
Candy is concerned about what will happen to him when he becomes useless. The dream gives him hope that his life could be better and surrounded by people after the death of his only real companion - his old dog.
Candy’s offer in turn makes George and Lennie hopeful - they have never been able to get the money together because of Lennie’s troublemaking and the conditions in the Great Depression but now the dream might become a reality.
Analysis of “They come an’ they quit an’ go on; an’ 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.”
Crooks, who lives more permanently on the farm, has seen many migrant workers come and go and knows that many of them have a similar dream to George and Lennie’s.
Migrant workers are characterised as lonely, nomadic men, so it is not surprising they dream of a future where they have a home and perhaps a family of their own.
Crook’s comments show that he doesn’t believe that George and Lennie will achieve their dream, as he is yet to meet someone who dreamed of their own farm and got it. This foreshadows the ending and the death of the dream.
Analysis of “Lennie said, ‘I might just as well go away. George aint gonna let me tend no rabbits now.”
Lennie knows that what he’s done is a bad thing. He did not intend to kill Curley’s wife but he knew that upsetting her would get him in trouble. His immense strength and lack of control over it led to her untimely death.
Lennie’s main concern relates to the dream. He is worried that now George won’t want him to be part of the dream or - even worse - won’t let him care for the rabbits. He understands that what he’s done will cause a lot of trouble and make George angry however it is clear he doesn’t really understand the true severity of the situation.
Lennie’s troublemaking has always set the pair back on their quest to have their own farm. Now Lennie’s actions signify the end of the dream.
Analysis of “I think I knowed from the very first. I think I knowed we’d never do her. He usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we could.”
George realises that the dream was never achievable. He always suspected they could never do it, but allowed himself to believe when Candy made the farm a real possibility.
Now that he has admitted that they will never be able to make it happen, George’s outlook becomes extremely pessimistic and he clearly knows what he must do.
Candy is also affected by the knowledge the dream will never happen. He will be left old, crippled and alone on the farm in Soledad without his dog and worrying about his future. The characters reactions to the end of the dream show the change in mood that follows Curley’s wife’s death.
Analysis of “And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie’s head. The hand shook violently, but his face set.”
At the end of the novel, George makes the terrible decision to kill Lennie, however his reasons for doing this are presented as honourable. He wants to save Lennie from a horrible death at Curley’s hands and he doesn’t want to let someone else pull the trigger, like Candy let happen to his dog.
He clearly doesn’t want to kill Lennie as his hand shakes and he has to compose himself.
George’s decision to kill Lennie is not only the death of their friendship but also symbolises the destruction of their dream.
George’s life will be very different from this point on. He will no longer have companionship and hope. Instead he will be just another migrant worker.
