Of mice and men - lennie personification of dream?

Question

I was reading some notes about 'Of Mice and Men' by J. Steinbeck. I can't understand why George couldn't afford living with Lennie, as him being the personification of dream and so had to kill him. I understood that he couldn't afford living with him because he was simple-minded and couldn't control his strength, so he could cause trouble.

Rae the notes were given by my lecturer, so i don't know the sources.

I was thinking about my question and realised that often in these world dreams do not come true. There's always obstacles that prevent this. So if there's no place for dreams, than there's no place for lennie if he personnifies the dream, if he believes so whole-heartedly in it.

Answer 1

This is an interesting idea- I hadn't thought about Lennie personifying the dream. If the Lennie does represent the dream, then it would make sense that George would kill him because all of the "outcasts" in the novel make choices or follow a path that lead to less than ideal lives. Basically, they each have a hand in ruining their own dreams to some extent. But that may not be right because that idea goes against the Naturalism theme of the novella, meaning that they are not in control of their own destiny. Can you post where you read these notes? I am interested in reading it myself!

Answer 2

Maybe it's because the "dream" was how innocent Lennie was (before the killings). Lennie didn't think that much, just loved the nature, the simplicity in his life. He didn't totally understand the harshness of the real world. Maybe George was jealous of how simple his life seemed to be in his head. Who doesn't dream of a simple life? And when one person has it and the other doesn't, that's a strain.

Just my random thoughts on it.

Answer 3

Yep - A great Book. I read it at school and again about a year ago - Im 33 now.
Shame its so short though !!