The American Dream (and the impossibility of it) 

• Lennie: Lennie simply wishes to tend to rabbits on his own farm. That is all he has ever wanted.
• George: George wishes to own a few an acre of land with Lennie and be able to sustain himself. He wants to be free of an inhospitable world.
• Candy: Candy dreams of being useful once again. He is old and crippled and feels like he may be fired soon. Therefore, he latches onto George and Lennie's dream of owning a bit of land. They are his last hope.
• Crooks: Crooks just wants to be treated equally. He is forced to live apart from the migrant workers and live a lonely life, simply because he is African-American.
• Curley's wife: Dreams of fame and fortune. She wished to be a movie star, but had to settle for marriage to Curley.
• Curley: Curley just wants to be respected by the workers, like Slim. He sees the power that Slim wields and wishes that it was his.