What happens when the dreams end in disappointment in Of Mice and Men?

There are several characters in Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men who have dreams which come to nothing. The most obvious example is George and Lennie and the dream of owning their own farm. Unfortunately, because of his mental disability, Lennie destroys the dream when he accidentally kills Curley's wife in the barn in Chapter Five. Lennie even seems to recognize his predicament by acknowledging that he had done "another bad thing." For George, it is not surprising, and after he and Candy discover the girl dead he admits that the dream was always elusive:

"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."

For Candy it is a particularly bitter pill to swallow, as he had pinned his hopes of a tranquil old age "hoein' in the garden" on the farm with George and Lennie. He pleads with George, "You an' me can go an' live there nice, can't we, George?" His appeals don't sway George, who knows he can never live out such a scenario without Lennie.

Another character whose dreams are never realized is Curley's wife. Before her death, she pours out her heart to Lennie about her fantasies of someday being a movie star and going to Hollywood. She tells Lennie,

"Coulda been in the movies, an' had nice clothes—all them nice clothes like they wear. An' I coulda sat in them big hotels, an' had pitchers took of me. When they had them previews I coulda went to them, an' spoke in the radio, an' it wouldn'ta cost me a cent because I was in the pitcher."

Lennie is the last person Curley's wife should be talking to. The big man is not aware of his own strength and the girl meets the same fate as the puppy he is trying to cover up in the beginning of the chapter.

Finally, there is Crooks, who for a very brief time buys into the idea of the dream farm as he talks with Lennie and Candy in Chapter Four. When Candy convinces him that the three men actually have the money and land picked out, Crooks becomes excited and offers to come along. He hesitatingly tells Candy,

"...If you...guys would want a hand to work for nothing—just his keep, why I'd come and lend a hand. I ain't so crippled I can't work like a son-of-a-bitch if I want to."

Crooks's dream is immediately shattered by the entrance of Curley's wife who interrupts the men's discussion. When Crooks becomes annoyed by the girl he attempts to kick her out of his room but she harshly attacks him, indicating she could get him "strung up on a tree" if he doesn't "keep" his "place." This truth sends Crooks back into the shell of the "aloof" black man and the temporary dream of living on equal terms with white men on the farm is extinguished.