I think
it might be argued that the so-called "dream" or "American dream" in
Steinbeck's is notand 's shared dream but really George's dream alone. He
has confided his dream to Lennie because he does a lot of talking to Lennie, although his
companion doesn't always understand what he is talking about. Lennie is not capable of inventing
such a complex dream. In fact, whenever the subject comes up he can only seem to imagine it in
terms of having rabbits to feed and fondle. Lennie has to hear George describe it to him, and he
believes in it as a potential reality even though George may only regard it as an idea to play
with in his mind. George probably does not mention his dream to any other person but Lennie
because Lennie is the only person who would share it with him.
George's
dream is infectious. First Lennie is infected, then Candy, and finally Crooks. George is the
only creative person among them. He is compensating for his dissatisfaction and frustrations by
indulging in what he himself knows to be an unrealistic fantasy, a wish fulfillment. The reality
seems like a potential nightmare. George would be living in a shack with three severely
handicapped men. They would be "land poor." They might have enough food, but they
wouldn't have any money to spend on necessities, much less on luxuries. They would need shoes,
clothing, tools, and seed in addition to such things as coffee, sugar and flour. It seems like a
wretched existence, possibly even worse than George and Lennie are experiencing now. Lennie is
dumb enough to believe in it, and Candy and Crooks are desperate enough to believe in it--but
does George believe in it himself?
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