Of Mice and Men is a depressing story, primarily because all of the characters fail to achieve what they want. George and Lennie's dream of owning their own land and Lennie wanting his own rabbits to pet goes unfounded. Curley's wife shares her secret dream of being a performer with Lennie, only to have that dream shattered, quite similar to her neck. Perhaps one of the least dominant dreams in the story, yet one of the most sad is Crooks' dream of no longer being alone, a dream of having friends in a land divided by racism.

The central dream that Of Mice and Men is based on is that of George and Lennie sharing the desire to own their own land. From the very start of the book, Lennie demands that George relay their dream,

'Lennie pleaded: "Come on George. Tell me please George. Like you done before."..."You get a kick outta that, don't you."(Page 17)

While Steinbeck cleverly makes us believe that this dream is possible, there is a constant feeling that this goal is not going to be achieved. From the very start there is some indication that George is not convinced of th

Despite this unusual meeting, the prospect of a black man making friends with white men was impossible at the time. This dream failing to be fulfilled is the most depressing of all the failed goals in Of Mice and Men, because this man is forced to spend a lifetime alone, as opposed to missing out on losing the opportunity of having a farm.

Of Mice and Men is a very depressing book, as many dreams go unfulfilled. This is not by any means to say that it is not a good, book, simply a depressing one that focuses on reality instead of fantasy. It was a very harsh reality of the time that dreams and goals that were created in peoples' minds never left those minds. From this book I can conclude that the era the book was set in would have been a depressing time to be alive, and that hope is one of the only things to keep a person going.

'"Jesus Christ! I bet we could swing her (the owner of the prospected property)." His eyes were full of wonder.

Late in the book, Candy's wife shares her lifelong dream of being a performer with Lennie. She tells him that she wanted to be in the 'Pitchers' and be famous but she never got the opportunity.

However, the wonder in his eyes did not last for long and George accepts the dream is really only for Lennie's sa

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 847
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)