Loneliness and Dreams in Of Mice and Men Essay

The two main themes in Of Mice and Men are loneliness and dreams. The themes interlock. People who are lonely have the most need of dreams to help them through.

George is not lonely during the novel, as he has Lennie. Later in the book he becomes lonely without his best friend. Lennie is the only character who is innocent enough not to fear loneliness, but he is angry when Crooks suggests George wont come back to him. George and Lennie share a dream, to own little patch of land and live on it in freedom. Lennies main desire is to tend the soft haired rabbits they will keep. Their perfect world is one that includes independence. Lennie and George have no family, no home, and very little control over their lives. They have to do as they are told by the boss, and they dont have anything to show for it. All they own is what they can carry themselves. The idea of having so much control over their lives, gives them both strong motivation.

When George goes talks about the farm from the dream, he twice describes it in terms of things he loved during his childhood I could build a smoke house like the one granpa had. George also says An wed keep a few pigeons to flyin around the winmill like they done when I was a kid. These comments suggest that George yearns for his future to reflect the beauty of his childhood.

In contrast Crooks is the only black man on the ranch, and is isolated because of his colour. He cannot go into the bunk house or socialise with the other men. He is always called the nigger by the men, which shows how racism is taken for granted. The other men dont call him this to insult or offend, but they never think to use his actual name. Crooks is very lonely, he says Spose you didnt have anybody. Spose you couldnt go into the bunk house and play rummy cause you were black. Aguy needs somebody to be near him. I tell ya a guy gets lonely an he gets sick. The ideal world presented by Crooks also reflects childhood. His father had a chicken ranch full of white chickens, a berry patch and alfalfa. Crooks and his brothers would sit and watch the chickens. Companionship and plenty food are both parts of Crooks dream.

Curleys wife has a dream that although different in detail compared to the others dreams, is still very similar in its general desires. She wants companionship so much, that in order to get it, she will try and talk to other people who dont want to talk to her, i.e the other men on the ranch. She comes across that she is not entirely satisfied by her husband, she constantly hangs around the barn, trying to get involved in other workers conversations. Her dream has similarity to the mens desire for their own land. She wanted to be an actress in Hollywood and imagines that it would be nice to stay in nice hotels. She wants to own lots of beautiful clothes, and have her photograph taken by lots of people. Like the men she desires friendship and material comforts, although much of her dream differ from that of the men.