Analyze or describe the dream shared by George and Lennie.

In chapter 1 of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and
Men, we find George and Lennie on the way to Soledad. They are going to
become farm hands in that town. George and Lennie are two men who are bonded together by
a family-like force that has grown with them since they were children. Lennie, a
mentally disabled man, is completely dependent on George for protection and clarity.
George is the leader of the dyad, and often protects Lennie- from the dangers and
accidents that Lennie's out of the ordinary physical strength can
cause.

George is also the leader when it comes to their
plans and dreams. He has figured out a dream, which he talks about as if it were a plan.
Lennie totally agrees and wishes for the same dream.

In it,
George and Lennie reach their own American Dream: A place to call their own, where they
can enjoy the fruits of their work on their own and with each other, not for anyone
else.

"O.K.
Someday- we're gonna get the jack together and we're gonna have a little house and a
couple of acres an' a cow and some pigs and-"
"An' live off the fatta the
lan'," Lennie shouted

Further
on George seems to resent the fact that all their lives they have had to live like
slaves, always producing, always farming, always plucking and harvesting great things
that end up going somewhere else. Why can't they just keep what is
theirs?

"we'll
have a big vegetable patch and a
rabbit hutch and
chickens.

However, their
dream is much less about harvest and much more about freedom: The freedom to not HAVE to
work. The freedom to enjoy what they work for, and what they believe is their right to
keep. It is a dream for peace, comfort, and joy.

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And when it rains in the winter, we'll just say
the hell with goin' to work, and we'll build up a fire in the stove and set around it
an' listen to the rain comin' down on the
roof.

Therefore, George and
Lennie's dream is quite simple: To live off the fat of the land. After all, the land had
chewed and spat them alive, has taken away their freedom, their capacity of sustenance,
and part of their dignity. Eventually, the land will also take away their
lives.