Robert Browning words,
Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or
what's a heaven
for?
certainly characterize
the dream of Lennie and George. In order for their desperate lives to have some hope,
George recites the words of the dream for Lennie; in order for him to derive the
satisfaction of child-like imagination, Lennie has George recite this dream. It is this
dream and their friendship which gives meaning to the lives of the two men, significance
that is missing for the others.
Thus, the significance of
the dream is that it gives Lennie and George a reason to work and to live. In the
setting of the Great Depression, in which Steinbeck's novella is set, the plight of the
displaced white male was great; in fact, thousands were alienated and alone. Living
lives of "quiet desperation" as Thoreau wrote, these men who once pursued an
unattainable American dream now sought refuge in fraternity with one another. Woody
Guthrie, who traveled thousands of miles by railway, sang of this loneliness and despair
while bringing men together. In order to escape these feelings of alienation, men like
George entertained a dream that, although they did not believe in it, provided them some
hope. But, once Lennie dies, so does the dream as George can no longer even sustain any
hope.
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