Developed Theme in the Novel.

IDEALISM VS REALITY

      In Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men, the two main protagonists try to escape homelessness, economic poverty, and emotional and psychological corruption. In order to free themselves from all this depressing life, the two work their butts off at this ranch to get enough money so they could purchase a piece of land.  At this ranch, they meet people who have dreams and desires of their own, but there are many constant factors that revolve around the dreams of these characters. These people don't seem to be aware of a barrier called reality, the constant factor.


      George and "Lennie" had a plan. The plan was to make enough money so they could have their own property. Lennie's mental disabilities got in the way of the dream pursuit. He was only focused on tending the rabbits on their dream farm and wasn't aware about the things that surrounded him. For example, Lennie and Curley's wife seemed to have a nice conversation. She let him feel her hair as long as he doesn't mess it up. Lennie wasn't aware that she wanted him to stop and this resulted him strangling her to death. There was only one person thinking and worried. That person would obviously be George. Lennie would always depend on George. Lennie expects George to cover for him and to make things the way they are supposed to be. This plan of George's didn't work because he decided to keep Lennie. Reality is, if George hadn't been so caring of the empty minded Lennie, he would have accomplished his goal in no time.
     In Carlson's ranch, there were people who also had desires & dreams that didn't turned out what they had hoped. One of those people was Curley's wife. She wanted to be a big famous star. This was the dream of most young women and most of them didn't become a famous star. She ended up marrying Curley. Another person would be Candy. He was very close to this dog, who he had since it was a puppy. In the days of the novel, the dog is now very old. Candy wants his dog to live and stay with him but in reality, this dog is miserable. There is one person that seems to be aware of this barrier. His name is Crooks. He is aware that ideal desires are unobtainable. He kind of becomes hypocritical when he is the most aware of reality, but he is dragged in to the dreams of George and Lennie.


    This barrier called "reality" limits us to the reachable and obtainable. These characters don't end up getting what they want because their dreams were too big and unrealistic. These dreams were fragile because of the lack of opportunity, organization, and the society they live in.