Of Mice and Men

Everyone in the world has hopes and dreams. Some people dream of being the next great athlete, others dream of becoming a star and some just dream of a simple, yet happy life with a family. People might consider this as the American dream and the book "Of Mice and Men," by John Steinbeck holds true to this dream by filling it with characters who have hopes and dreams of a better life. Some of the characters were George and Lennie, Candy and Crooks.

The two main characters of the book were George and Lennie. Lennie was a large man in size who was not too bright and depended on George; his small and short tempered traveling companion. Lennie was always getting the two of them into trouble and having to hop place-to-place, but they still had the same dream of someday having a place of their own. They had a dream of owning their own land with animals without the hassle of working for someone else. George tells Lennie about how life is soon going to be like. "Someday-we're gonna get the jack together and we're gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an' a cow and some pigs" (Steinbeck 14). Throughout the whole story, the two think about this dream and hoping for the day it will become a reality. George also sometimes has a dream of his own when he becomes irritated with Lennie. "if I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an' work, an' no trouble... I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want... An' whatta I cot, I got you!..." (Steinbeck 11). Even though George gets like this, he does not mean it, because he always ends up apologizing and letting Lennie know that he really does care about him.

Later in the story, George and Lennie meet a co-worker by the name of Candy. Candy is the aging ranch handyman who lost his hand in an accident and worries about his usefulness at the ranch. "He pointed with his right arm, and out of the sleeve came a round stick-like wrist, but no hand" (Steinbeck 18). During this quote, Candy was introducing George and Lennie to the ranch. Out of his worry, Candy finds out about George and Lennie's dream and offers to help by pitching in his life savings and helping them out with chores once they got the land. "'S'pose I went in with you guys. Tha's three hunderd [sic] an' fifty bucks I'd put in. I ain't much good, but I could cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some'" (Steinbeck 59). By doing this, Candy gets a dream of leaving the ranch to live a simple life with George and Lennie.

Crooks is the black stable hand of the ranch who got his name from his crooked back. One night in the story, Lennie goes into Crooks room asking about puppies when he finds out about Lennie and George's dream. Out of his proud and bitter nature he dismisses the dream as a hopeless one. "'I seen hunderds of men come by on the road an'