The clash between the lure of dreams and the harshness of reality is a major theme in Of Mice and Men. Lennie and George hold on to their version of the American dream: owning their own piece of farmland. Steinbeck shows how the American dream is an ideal that is impossible—or at least very hard—to attain. For Lennie and George, their shared dream dissolves when Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife.

However, the dream is present throughout the novella, attracting the most isolated and desperate characters to begin, if only momentarily, to imagine a better life for themselves. Candy, who is physically disabled, aged, and almost useless on the ranch, takes comfort in George and Lennie’s dream and even offers to put his life’s savings toward it. Crooks, who is alienated for being an African American, takes comfort in the dream and imagines himself working alongside others. Lennie and George’s dream is to “live off the fatta’ the lan.’” Such land ownership and control of natural resources stands at the very core of the American dream. Last, for Lennie, the ideal future is one in which he owns rabbits on the land that he can take care of and pet, which is his strongest desire throughout the novella.

This dream also stands in juxtaposition to the Great Depression. The Great Depression was marked by a dire scarcity of land and wealth for the majority of Americans. For Lennie and George, life as itinerant workers means unsteady pay, unsteady work, and an unsettled life. It is hard for these two men to create savings with the low wages they are given.

Given that George and Lennie are job searching during the Great Depression, finding work is made even more difficult by the lack of job opportunities. Further, Lennie’s mental disability puts a strain on George as a caretaker. Lennie is presented as a character who is both George’s partner but unable to function on his own. Lennie’s innocence and mental disability stop him from being able to care for himself. Lennie’s innocent and simple state either cannot exist or will struggle to exist in society. Since Lennie kills Curley’s wife and is then killed in return, this suggests he is a danger to both himself and others and that there is no place for him in the current system. Similarly, the dream in its idealism and innocence cannot exist in reality either. For Lennie and George, the dream of owning their own space is a source of comfort and happiness. The dream represents an escape; however, their circumstances make their dream a nearly impossible goal to attain.