Of Mice An Men

The story Of Mice and Men took place during the 1930's. That time period was very different from today. Race and gender were very important characteristics that determined whether a person had the opportunity to make money. The 1930's were also a time where people started questioning life and the American culture. Many people like John Steinbeck thought that life was very unfair and questioned whether if life was even worth living. In Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck demonstrates that mans dream is destined to be destroyed by a cruel reality.

George was a very smart and able man who had taken responsibility of a mentally-challenged man named Lennie. George could have found a good steady job for which he could have stayed at and made good money, but when he went to work with Lennie, Lennie made a mistake that got both of them in trouble. George was a very good person for taking care of Lennie. Lennie was very dumb, but he always remembered the dream he and George shared. The main dream that George possessed was to be happy, and he realized that even though taking care of Lennie was hard work at times, he was happiest with Lennie. George would repeat their dream to Lennie. The nicest thing George ever did for Lennie was giving him hope, and that's what mentioning the dream farm did. Lennie always wanted to "live of the fatta land" (81), and "have rabbits, and puppies, go on George." George saved a man's life, and in return he got nothing. George's dream was destroyed when Lennie killed Curly's wife, forcing George to kill Lennie, because reality did not allow those two to fulfil their dreams.

Curly's wife's dream was clearly presented in the novel. She wanted to be in the movies. Curly's wife had no name. She was always referred to as Curly's wife. She had no identity and just until the end of the story, the reader knew very little about her. She tells Lennie that her dream was to be a famous movie star. She was a very pretty woman and that dream almost seemed probable, but she was born poor so basically reality told her that she was to just be a wife and do housework or work on a farm. One day "a show come through here and I met one of the actors, and he told me I could be with that show."(88) He was obviously lying to her and just