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... He has been compensated by his employer and has saved the money, which he offers to give to George, in return for a share in his and Lennie's dream. George is happy to agree to this, but is not interested in buying the smallholding with Candy alone, after Lennie has killed Curley's wife. Here we can see that although Candy doesnt have the advantage of friendship, due to his age, this dream is the only virtuous notion he has to look forward to the rewards of life. Candy is excluded from the social life of the ranch-hands, by his age, his disability and demeaning job, and by his own choice; I ain't got the poop any more. Page 80, Arrow Classics His lack of status is shown when he is powerless to save his old dog from being shot.
He bitterly, and unfairly, reproaches Curley's wife for the loss of his dream. Crooks is also disabled and a Negro, unusual at this time in California. He points out that he is not a southern Negro, referring to the deep south, states like Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, where coloured people live in large numbers). He is excluded by his colour from the bunkhouse.
Crooks protects his feelings by keeping to himself. When Candy tells him of the dream ranch, he offers to work for nothing. But Curley's wife reminds him that he has no hope of sharing the dream, and he pretends the offer was made as a joke. Curley's wife is the most pathetic of the outsiders: unlike the others, even Lennie, she seems not to understand her limitations - or she refuses to admit them. She still dreams of what might have been, seeing herself as a potential film star. But she has no acting talent, men, one from a travelling show, one who claimed to be in the movies, make bogus offers as a chat-up line, and now that films require actresses to talk, her coarse speech would be a handicap.
Her naivet is shown in her belief that her mother has stolen a letter (from her contact in Hollywood), which was obviously never written; her immaturity is shown in her instant reaction of marrying the loathsome Curley. Desperate for companionship she does not find at home, she flirts with the ranch-hands. They are uneasy about this, as they think her to be seriously promiscuous, and are fearful of Curley's reaction. Her inappropriate dress on the ranch and her coquettish manner brand her as a tart.
She is, perhaps, the most pathetic of all the characters. Crooks astutely notes that Lennie cannot remember what he is saying, but points out that most people in conversation do this, that being with another is what counts; and so he talks freely to Lennie, who has the same effect on Curley's wife. She cannot speak to her husband but pours out her troubles to Lennie. It is ironic that the retarded man should be taken into the confidence of these supposedly normal characters. It is unfortunate that the rare relationship of friends should be ended by one of them; in killing Lennie, George knows he is condemning himself to the life of working for a month, then blowing his pay in the poolroom and lousy cat-house. And the detailed references to the two brothels in Soledad remind us both of the lack of opportunity for the ranch-hands to have a lasting sexual relationship, and the absence of opportunities for women to work in respectable jobs.
George and Lennie's dream is at first a whim, but becomes clearer. The unexpected opportunity offered by Candy's money means it is no longer a fantasy, but the threat to the fulfilment of this dream, ever-present in Lennie's behaviour finally destroys it, just as it has become possible. Candy and Crooks both try to share in this dream. Candy is desperate and, so, ready to trust his fortune to a near stranger. Crooks is most cynical about the dream of owning land; Nobody never gets to heaven and nobody never gets no land.
Page 78, Arrow Classics Even though every ranch-hand, he says, has land in his head. Yet even he, recalling happy times in his childhood, hopes, briefly, for a share in George and Lennie's dream. Curley's wife indulges a different fantasy, far less likely of fulfilment. As many young women do, she aspires to stardom in films. She knows she is pretty, and, believing too readily the man who says she is a natural, thinks her talent is merely waiting for an opportunity and that her mother has stolen the letter, which represents her chance for fame. Steinbeck describes precisely, an oxymoron or contradiction in terms, with which she demonstrates to Lennie her supposed talent; She looked up at Lennie, and she made a small grand gesture with her arm and hand to show that she could act Page 93, Arrow Classics The end of the novella seems to confirm Crooks's pessimistic view.
None of the characters does achieve his or her dream. But this seems more due to a lack of opportunity and the way society is organised, than to anything else. The notions of friendship, hopes and goals, and dreams throughout each novel are a fundamental basis to how the novel is written. They are portrayed in different ways, but still have the same effect on any reader. Dickens is a great lover of verbal irony: he uses words in such a way that he seems to be saying the opposite of what he really means; he expects the reader to understand this from the tone or the details of the immediate context. Dickens also loves caricature, extreme exaggeration for comic or grotesque effects; the peculiarities of his characters are often amplified for comic purposes; if we do not understand this, we will miss much of his humour.
At a deep level, Dickens is very serious about his subjects, but on the surface, he is often ironical, sarcastic or whimsical. Steinbeck's narrative method is unremarkable but effective in a simple way; for this reason it is not an obvious subject for study. The structure of the novella is clear and quite simple: each subdivision is an extended episode, in the same place. The title of the novel itself expresses the fragility of dreams.
Steinbeck shows how the plans of men are no more secure than those of the mouse. The source of the characters' dreams is their discontent with their present. Steinbeck shows how poor their lifestyle is: they have few possessions, fewer comforts, no chance of marriage or family life and no place of their own. The notions of friendship, hopes and dreams are critical in any society we live in. Therefore, their significance epitomizes the wide use of these motifs in each novel. These two great writers, saw a problem, made an approachable angle to which the public would respond, and simply provided a solution through their effectual quality of literature.
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