Dreams Make Life Worth Living
John Steinbeck’s 1937 novella Of Mice and Men tells the story of two unlikely friends. George Milton, and Lennie Small, a mentally disabled man, are travelling to a ranch in California to work. The men have a dream to one day have their own ranch and to be able to, as Lennie says, “live off the fatta the lan.” Throughout the book and film, produced in 1992, we follow the two men through their struggles, hardship, and ambition as they reach for their dream. Steinbeck makes this dream very evident as it is mentioned many times in the book and is shown as George and Lennie’s motivation in the motion picture. Many people doubt Lennie and George’s dream, but sometimes, life is about risking everything for a dream that …show more content…
In the beginning of the book, we learn that the reason Lennie and George are leaving their hometown Weed is because Lennie was accused of raping a woman. Even though Lennie did not understand what he was doing,and meant no harm to the woman, both him and George risked their freedom and ran away from the town to get a fresh start, and continue the path to their dream. If the men were to have got caught, their dream could be ruined and never fulfilled. In the film, it shows us the struggles the men endure in order to accomplish this dream. During the movie, when the dream is talked about, there is an obvious music change to a very light and positive mood, compared to other points in the movie. In the book and movie it is very evident that Lennie has a mental disability and cannot remember things very well, but when George mentions their dream Lennie is always able to remember what their dream is, which shows how much this dream truly means to the pair. In chapter 6, George starts off by saying, “We’ll have a cow, an’ we’ll have maybe a pig an’ chickens… an’ down the flat we’ll have a… little place for the alfalfa-----” (Steinbeck 105). Lennie finishes Georges sentence, “For the rabbits.” No matter what happens the one thing Lennie always remembers, is his …show more content…
We will never know if George and Candy go on to accomplish their dream after Lennie’s death, but I do believe that even though Lennie never fully accomplished his dream, the idea of his dream truly gave his life meaning. When Lennie kills Curley’s wife in the film, we saw a bird fly away, which symbolized the idea that Lennie’s dreams were leaving after he had done the unthinkable. Even though that dream seemed to leave, that same dream gave George and Lennie for everything, and without that dream, who knows what could have become of the
John Steinbeck’s 1937 novella Of Mice and Men tells the story of two unlikely friends. George Milton, and Lennie Small, a mentally disabled man, are travelling to a ranch in California to work. The men have a dream to one day have their own ranch and to be able to, as Lennie says, “live off the fatta the lan.” Throughout the book and film, produced in 1992, we follow the two men through their struggles, hardship, and ambition as they reach for their dream. Steinbeck makes this dream very evident as it is mentioned many times in the book and is shown as George and Lennie’s motivation in the motion picture. Many people doubt Lennie and George’s dream, but sometimes, life is about risking everything for a dream that …show more content…
In the beginning of the book, we learn that the reason Lennie and George are leaving their hometown Weed is because Lennie was accused of raping a woman. Even though Lennie did not understand what he was doing,and meant no harm to the woman, both him and George risked their freedom and ran away from the town to get a fresh start, and continue the path to their dream. If the men were to have got caught, their dream could be ruined and never fulfilled. In the film, it shows us the struggles the men endure in order to accomplish this dream. During the movie, when the dream is talked about, there is an obvious music change to a very light and positive mood, compared to other points in the movie. In the book and movie it is very evident that Lennie has a mental disability and cannot remember things very well, but when George mentions their dream Lennie is always able to remember what their dream is, which shows how much this dream truly means to the pair. In chapter 6, George starts off by saying, “We’ll have a cow, an’ we’ll have maybe a pig an’ chickens… an’ down the flat we’ll have a… little place for the alfalfa-----” (Steinbeck 105). Lennie finishes Georges sentence, “For the rabbits.” No matter what happens the one thing Lennie always remembers, is his …show more content…
We will never know if George and Candy go on to accomplish their dream after Lennie’s death, but I do believe that even though Lennie never fully accomplished his dream, the idea of his dream truly gave his life meaning. When Lennie kills Curley’s wife in the film, we saw a bird fly away, which symbolized the idea that Lennie’s dreams were leaving after he had done the unthinkable. Even though that dream seemed to leave, that same dream gave George and Lennie for everything, and without that dream, who knows what could have become of the