Theme of Dreams in Literature Essay Example

“Nothing happens unless first we dream, '' states Carl Sandburg. Though most people will view this quote in a positive light and as nothing more than the average “chase your dreams” inspirational saying, which is most definitely not a “wrong” interpretation, the saying can be read as a warning against dreaming and as “nothing bad can happen to you until you begin to dream.” In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and “Harlem” and “Dreams” by Langston Hughes, their contrasting theme of dreams provides a blueprint on how people should approach their dreams by showing the extremities of both sides of “dream-chasing” and their effects.

In Of Mice and Men, the theme of dreams being positive is flipped on its head and is shown in a more negative light. Dreams are portrayed as these unrealistic but mentally soothing goals, that allow the characters to escape into the possibilities of what could have been, though when chased, results in only failure and misfortune.  In the book, George and Lennie’s dream is the most highlighted. Their dream of this fabled “farm”, free of suffering or hardship is simply unachievable. As the book progresses, the duo experiences hardship after hardship, with events like Lennie crushing Curley’s hand, their dream seems to get further and further away the closer they get to being able to materialize it, despite their cling to it. Lennie even asks George to repeat it in his last conversation with him, showing the immense connection Lennie had with this one goal. Though the most focused upon, Lennie and George are not the only two characters with dreams in the novel. A more sidelined but noticeable character with aspirations of her own is Curley’s Wife. She explains her conversation when asked to join a group of actors as a child to Lennie, “But my ol’ lady wouldn’ let me. She says because I was on’y fifteen…” she continues in saying, “... If I'd went, I wouldn’t be living like this, you bet”. (88) From this, we can see how Curley’s Wife believes that her mother’s decision of not allowing her to go become an actress is partially to blame for her current situation where she is completely lonely and isolated with nobody to talk to. We see how she holds on to her dreams, questioning the decisions of her past, holding on to them as they keep her company when nobody else will. In our society today, many people are overwhelmed with “inspirational” messages telling them to chase their dreams” and not to give up on them. Of Mice and Men demonstrates how this can be a fruitless and harmful path in life. When envisioning their dreams today, people are often only able to see the favorable outcome and are blind to the monsoon of failure that envelops them when pursuing their dreams. Though this take on dreams is more negative, it is not necessarily worse as it forces people to be more realistic with themselves and their pursuits in life.

Contrarily, in the poems “Dreams” and “Harlem” Langston Hughes paints the picture of a person with no aspirations, and the life of someone with no dreams to chase and no goals to work towards. Hughes demonstrates the negative effects of the lack of dreams, while Of Mice and Men demonstrates the negative effects of the possession of dreams. In “Harlem” Hughes talks about what happens to a dream that is ignored and the effects it has on the mind of the individual. He guesses, “Maybe it sags. Like a heavy load” (“Harlem”). Hughes implies that a “Dream Deferred” (“Harlem”) can be burdening for the person it lingers in, weighing them down mentally, and sagging their mind, occupying their every thought. This shows the importance of dreams, showing how ignoring them can be detrimental to a person's mental state. Thus giving the reader an incentive to continue to chase their dreams, a reason to pursue their goals. Demonstrating the positivity that can come from “dream-chasing”. In Hughes’ other work, “Dreams” he writes about what happens when one simply forgets about their dream entirely. In the poem, he shows what happens when dreams “go” warning that, “When dreams go. Life is a barren field. Frozen with snow.” (“Dreams”). Hughes is saying that when you let your dreams go and forget about them, your life becomes stagnant, frozen. Saying how without dreams, a person’s life has nothing to it, a lifeless field, with no crops or life. Hughes implies that dreams provide the warmth that will melt the frost that has stagnated your life and will allow you to forge your own goals, your own aspirations to pursue, giving meaning and populating the field of your life. This hopeful outlook on the possession of dreams is inspiring to people and is what motivates people in our society today to keep pursuing their ambitions to become successful in life. The way of viewing dreams can be beneficial but is not entirely positive as shown with Of Mice and Men with how completely banking your life on your dreams is unwise and risky.

In both Of Mice and Men and the poems, “Dreams” and “Harlem” by Langston Hughes the pursuit of dreams is a common theme, their connotation in both media differs with one being positive and one being negative. In Of Mice and Men we see how the pursuit of dreams is portrayed as this fruitless endeavor that only leads to disappointment and hardship. As said best by Crooks when speaking to Lennie of his dream of the farm, “Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. It’s just in their head.” (74) In the book, Crooks has an interesting perspective into the subject of dreams, since as the only African American in the book, he never really even got a chance to chase his “American Dream.” So, this quote can be viewed as someone with firsthand experience giving us his insight of facing this aimless venture that will result in nothing coming of it. Crooks also represents the overall theme of dreams for the rest of the characters in the story, since (like him), everybody else’s dreams amount to nothing, whether that be Lennie and George’s dream of the farm or Curley’s Wife’s dream of becoming an actress, all these characters end up back where they began or end up worse off from where they originally started. On the flip side though, in the poems, “Dreams”, and “Harlem” dreams are idealized and the consequences of not having any are shown. In “Dreams” we see that, “For if Dreams Die. Life is a broken-winged bird. That cannot fly.” In the poems, instead of the author portraying dreams as these pointless goals that are foolish to pursue, Langston Hughes demonstrates the results of not having any dreams, in saying how life cannot go on, it cannot “fly” without the assistance of dreams. Showing how the theme of dreams in the poems is very much not the same theme of dreams in Of Mice and Men.

Although almost polar opposites, these two opposing views from both works have benefits to people in our lives today, with one being uplifting and one being grounded, people these days would do better to incorporate a blend of the two, to chase your dreams, but only once you are in a stable position in your life to do so. These principles on living life allow people to make more intelligent decisions, while still being able to work towards their pursuits in life. Heeding to the words from Carl Sandburg, nothing in your life can happen whether that be positive or negative, can happen until first, you dream. 

Works Cited

Hughes, Langston, 1902-1967. The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes. New York :Knopf : Distributed by Random House, 1994.

Sandburg, C. (n.d.). Carl Sandburg quotes. BrainyQuote. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/carl_sandburg_163595 

Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York, N.Y., U.S.A: Penguin Books, 1994. Print.