Dreams in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Essay Sample

John Steinbeck once said “Everyone in the world has a dream that he knows he can’t come off but he spends his life hoping it may. This is at once the sadness, the greatness and the triumph of our species.”  Dreams are a thing everybody has and everybody wants to come true. John Steinbeck, the author of the novel Of Mice and Men, makes the reader realize that dreams are a big part of life. And no matter how hard we try, not all dreams come true. 

Curley’s wife had many unfulfilled dreams. Curley’s wife states, “I could've made something of myself. I lived right in Salinas. Come there when I was a kid. Well, a show come through an’ I met one of the actors. He says I could go with that show. But my ol’ lady wouldn’t let me.” (Steinbeck 85-86). Later on in the text, Curley’s wife says, “Coulda been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes-all them nice clothes like they wear. An’ I could sat in the big hotels, an’ had pitchers took of me. When they had them previews I coulda went to them, an’ spoke in the radio, an’ it wouldn’ta cost me a cent because I was in the pitcher. An’ all them nice clothes like they wear. Because this guy says I was a natural.” (Steinbeck 86). From this, the reader can clearly see that Curley’s wife had a dream other than being Curley’s wife. She describes how she could’ve been in movies, talked on the radio, and gone with a show, but her mom wouldn’t let her. After so long of her dreams not coming true, she gave up and married Curley as a protest to her mom. In conclusion, Curley’s wife had dreams that never came true. 

George and Lennie had a dream that they worked hard for, but it never was achieved. Around the middle of the book, George reminds Lennie of their dream. George says, “Well, it’s ten acres. Got a little win’mill. Got a little shack on it, an’ a chicken run. Got a kitchen, orchard, cherries, apples, peaches, ‘cots, nuts, got a few berries. They’s a place for alfalfa and plenty water to flood it.”(Steinbeck 55-56). At the end of the book, when George is about to kill Lennie, he repeats their dream. George says, “Look acrost the river, Lennie, an’ I’ll tell you so you can almost see it. We gonna get a little place. We’ll have a cow, an’ we’ll have maybe a pig an’ chickens . . . an’ down the flat we’ll have a . . . little piece alfalfa for the rabbits.” (Steinbeck 102-103). After saying this, George shot Lennie. After reading, the reader can see George and Lennie had a dream to have their place and at that place, have everything they need. The reader can also infer that the dream died when Lennie died because how could George fulfill their dream without him. In addition, George and Lennie worked hard for their dream because they wanted freedom. Freedom from people’s orders, freedom to do what they want, and freedom to enjoy life. Overall, Lennie and George’s dream was never accomplished.  

Not all dreams come true, even if you work as hard as you can. Curley’s wife had a dream to do many things, some being to go with a show and speak on the radio. Her dream died when her mom wouldn’t let her chase her dream and she married Curley as a protest. George and Lennie had a dream to have their own place and to have freedom, but ultimately their dream died when George killed Lennie. John Steinbeck, the author of Of Mice and Men, knew that everyone had a dream that they hoped would come true and that that was the greatness and sadness of our species. In the end, everyone in the world has dreams. I once had a dream to have a snake as a pet. I worked as hard as I could and hoped as hard as I could for my dream to come true but sadly it never did.