Dreams, although often cut off are always necessary to keep the hope of people alive to fight against the inadequacies of the economic and social perils of life. Dreams are one of the most freely experienced actions by humans, and still it is the most rigid and unrealistic thought process that is part of our lives. The dream of most American's at this time period surrounding the book "Of Mice and Men" was only a large cesspool of dying hopes that were kept alive by wishes and aspirations even without success. They often have no power fulfilment or credence to them even though we as humans put so much belief and effort in them. Joesph Fontenrose comments that the novel I about "the vanity of human wishes" (Fontenrose 375). .
Dreams and willpower are necessary to keep hope alive in people. What was once the land of opportunity was now the land of desperation. What was once the land of hope and optimism had become the land of despair. Sometimes these dreams become nightmares because of the hardships that are endured through the trials of life and society. Many immigrants from Europe coming to America in hope of prosperity and easy living found themselves in conditions that were paralleled by the conditions in the European slums of the inner city. Howard Levant made the statement after a critical reading of the novel that "the good life is impossible because humanity is flawed" (Owens 146). The horrors of the American Civil War and the growth of towns with slums as bad as those in Europe, and the corruption of the American political system led to many shattered dreams. For society as a whole the American dream ended with the stock market crash on Wall Street in 1929.This was the start of the Great Depression that would affect the whole world during the 1930's. However the dream kept some hopes alive and could not be suppressed by the heartbreaking circumstances endured by all Americans.