Of mice and men is written in a very realistic style

The novella of ” of mice and men” is written in a very realistic style. Its portrayal of migrant ranch workers during the great depression between 1920 and 1930 is very realistic and refers to many facts. The ” Great Depression” was a decade of unemployment, low profits, low prices, high poverty and stagnant trade that affected the entire world not just workers in the USA as the book describes. During this period of time an uncounted amout of people had to turn to the lonley life of a migrant ranch worker who unwillingly has to travel all over the nation in pursual of money , solitude and to many the ” The American dream” .

This fact was at the four front of many people’s lives during that period of time and is also in this book. ‘Seems like ever’ guy got land in his head”, just as crooks describes it. The only outlet for the characters in this book is to rise above there harsh lives as workers and dream of a live in a better place. From the beginning of the story Lennie and George ride high on the thought of someday owning their own piece of land. For George, it is the expectation of being his own boss and taking care of his own place.

For Lennie, it is simply the expectation that he will be able to pet animals all day long. When this dream is shared between others it becomes almost contagious. Candy and Crooks are two characters from the book that sign on to this fantasy, which helps them also to transcend their circumstances. Without dreams the characters of this novella would have absolutely nothing which was the sad reality for all the workers who suffered from the great depression. A very strong example of a dream is the dream that is shared by Lennie and George.

Though out the course of the book we receive a very clear indication on what George and lennies dream is. It is not just mentioned once but on numerous occasions during the book. The two men dream of living a life away from the lonely depths of migrant ranch working and becoming self reliant, a reference again to the American Dream. The men want to live a life of freedom, a life were no one is there boss and a life which is theirs to control. ” If we don’t like a guy say, get the hell out and by god he’ll do it”. Another point to reiterate there wish for control of their own life.

The two men have the same dream but both care more heavily on a certain thing, like George he is the one of the two which cares more about control of his own life and being his own boss on the other hand Lennie just seems content on dreaming on being able to pet soft animals all day long, ” do I still get to pet the rabbits George”. We don’t just receive scarce information on the men’s dreams; we receive some very minute details such as: ” All kin’s a vegetables in the garden, and if we want a little whisky we can sell a few eggs or something, or some milk.

We’d jus’ live there. We’d belong there. There wouldn’t be no more runnin’ round the country and gettin’ fed by a Jap cook. No, sir, we’d have our own place where we belonged and not sleep in no bunk house” . This just verifying the fact that the guys spend a lot of time thinking about their dream and how badly that they want it. This dream alike many dreams thought of by workers lacks an ability to be proven true. So many workers say that they have a dream but they them selves feel that the dream may never come true.

This feeling is expressed by the negro stable buck Crooks ” I seen hunderds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an’ that same damn thing in their heads. Hunderds of them. They come, an’ they quit an’ go on; an’ every damn one of ’em’s got a little piece of land in his head. An’ never a God damn one of ’em ever gets it. Just like heaven. Everybody wants a little piece of lan’. I read plenty of books out here. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. It’s just in their head. They’re all the time talkin’ about it, but it’s jus’ in their head” .

Just like that quote mentions George and Lennie dreams come to harsh abrupt ending. Such ending which occurs to so many peoples dreams during the period of time that I’m writing about. The problem with this is that some, not all of the workers start to believe so heavily that their dream will come true when the dream is unable to come true, the reality is even harsher. George, on the lost dream: “-I think I knowed from the very first. I think I knowed we’d never do her. He usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would” .

Another example of a dream imagined by a character is the dream of Candy’s, that is basically brought on by the dream of ” livin off the fatta the land” by George and Lennie. Candy is the old man of the ranch; he seems to be a very lonely man especially when is dog is killed. If Candy had not latched onto this dream then he would certainly have nothing else to live for and no place to go. ” I won’t have no place to go, an’ I can’t get no more jobs. “. The main reason that Candy got connected to this dream was so that he will not be left alone; this feeling is exasperated after the killing of his dog.

Candy first hears about the dream from overhearing a conversation being held between George and Lennie. George is first very defensive when he realises that Candy has heard their conversation. ” You know a place like that”, ” suppose I do what’s it to you” however as soon as Candy tells the men that he is willing to put his life savings to the cause George seems to see the dream start to become real; at this stage George starts to tell Candy in more detail about the dream. ” S’pose they was a carnival or a circus come to town, or a ball game, or any damn thing. Old Candy nodded in appreciation of the idea. ” We’d just go to her,” George said.

” We wouldn’t ask nobody if we could. Jus’ say, ‘We’ll go to her,’ an’ we would. Jus’ milk the cow and sling some grain to the chickens an’ go to her. ” This conformation shows to us that George feels that the dream may come true and is very comfortable talking to Candy about it. After he is part of the men’s dream he thinks about it a lot and throughout the course of the book he tells the men of ideas that he has regarding the dream showing that he thinks about it a lot, just the same as George and Lennie. I got it figured out.

We can make some money on them rabbits if we go about it right. ” (p. g 75). Just the same as George and Lennie, when the dream comes to an end Candy is clearly devastated and almost angry, as he also felt that the dream was so close to becoming reality. ” Then-it’s all of” Candy asked sulkily. Crooks the negro stable buck has also has a dream. Crooks sort of has two dreams, primarily he dreams of racial equality, ” this is just a nigger talking, an’ a busted back nigger, so it don’t mean nothing”.

And secondly more aligned with the American dream he also dreams of a live of freedom. This dream just like the one of Candy is brought on by the dream of George and Lennie. ” You guys is just kiddin’ yourself, You’ll talk about it a hell of a lot, but you wont get no land. At first Crooks is very sceptical of the idea. His feeling about the dream changes suddenly when he finds out that the men do actually have money for the dream to become reality. ” You say that you got the money”. ” Damn right we have”.

It is at this stage which Crooks starts to feel that he may actually be able to become part of this dream and offers himself to the cause. “… If you… guys wont a hand to work for nothing-just his keep, why id come and lend a hand”. But just like the other dreams of the men in the book this one also comes to an ending. The dream of crooks ends In a different way to that of the other men as crooks seem to end it himself. After the confrontation that he has with Curleys wife he starts to feel like the unequally black man that he is.

This makes him feel that the idea of the dream just will not be able to come true. ” Member what I said about hoein and doin odd jobs? , Well just forget it, I didn’t mean it, I was jus follin. Finally another character who has a dream is Curleys wife. This dream is completely different to that of the four other men, this dream is not about owning her own piece of land but about be able to work as an actress and live away for Curley. At the beginning of the novella we don’t see Curleys wife as a budding actress and we don’t see that see doesn’t actually like her husband Curley. Says he was goin to put me in the movies.

Says I was a natural” and ” I don’t like Curley” This dream is not usual in the sense as it is not a dream in chase of the American dream but is really a chase of freedom. This dream is also unable to come true as Curley’s wife is brutally murdered by Lennie thus completely ending the chances of this dream to come true. Overall you can say that I agree with the statement ” Of Mice and Men is written in a very realistic style, but really the book is all about dreams. It is most certainly written very realistically.

But as you can see from what I have written the theme of dreams is very prominent. On the other hand you could say that the chasing of dreams is realistic to the period of time that we are talking about. During this time, (the great depression) many, many people had dreams if they didn’t have said dreams they would have nothing. Definitely the book is heavily centered around dreams, dreams of such that link to the American dream. These dreams are also ended realistically, in how none of them seem to come true, this was very prominent and can link to the title of the book; the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.