In the book, Of Mice and Men, a duo of friends tries to reach their utopia but their dream is shattered by a man's weak mind. Throughout the book, Lennie and George stick by each other through hard times and harsh characters. When Lennie was chased by a gang of angry people, George did the only thing he knew possible to help Lennie escape from these people. When George shot Lennie, at first I thought that he was being unreasonable. Lennie could've gone to an asylum or a shelter, but he didn't need to be killed. However, by killing Lennie, George saved him from the horrible death by the mob and perhaps more from the reality of their unreachable utopia. I don't know if I could do the same to try to help a weak friend. If someone dear to me even asked me to kill them to relieve them from something, I still don't think I could do it. But George showed a kind of courage by saving Lennie. He let Lennie go to the only reachable utopia he knew that Lennie could possibly attain: heaven.

I was also very sad when Candy's dreams were shattered. Even Crooks, the old black man, had a part in this dream of the perfect ranch, but because of one adulterous, flirtatious woman, his hopes of making something better of himself flew away. I hate it when something that would do so much good is not possible. If Candy, George, Lennie, and Crooks ever actually got this utopian ranch, it would make Lennie happy, Candy content, and would give Crooks something to do other than mope. But because Lennie's feeble mind caused him to make mistakes, this dream was destroyed. I pity every single person in this book, even thought the setting was not horrible. What makes the book so melancholy was that the characters could do so much more with themselves if they just tried. It saddens me greatly to see that the characters in this book had to cut their dreams short because of a mistake done by an accident prone, handicapped man like Lennie. Although the book arouses such emotions and makes the heart weep for the misfortune of these people, it is a heartwarming story of the love of one friend to another.