They are like that star you wish upon in the night sky, shining with the hope for a better future, but in reality, you're a few million years late. It's already dead, just like your dream. In the end, all you're left with is the cruel face of reality placed in front of you. And the most depressing thing about this is that it can't be avoided. Best stated by this quote: "-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." (103), even if we are told millions of times that it is possible, we still have that little voice in the back of our minds telling us the opposite. In John Steinbeck's novel "Of Mice and Men", he captures this belief perfectly by showing us our group of characters, their dreams, and how reality is the only true thing out there for us in the end.
The first dreams that are focused on in the story are Candy's , Crook's, and Slim's. Candy's dream is to turn Lennie and George's dream into Lennie, George, and Candy's dream. However, this ended up being futile in the end once Lennie kills the dream. Candy even begs Gorge to continue the dream without Lennie: "Candy is then left how he is in the beginning: a follower with no dreams of his own, meant to be stuck on the ranch until he dies. Crook's dream, on the other hand, is one that he decided for himself. At first, it looks like he wants to go with Lenny and George to create a home of their own, but then we see that his real dream is to be treated like an equal like he was when he was a child. He then gives up on the dream entirely when Curley's wife comes in and pops his balloon, so to speak. He then crashes down to reality and forgets it. Lastly, we have Slim's dream. Throughout the entire novel, Slim is placed upon a pedestal because of his skill as a skinner. This makes him seem unattainable to the other ranch hands and therefore he has no friends.