Comparing The American Dream In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

If there was a favorable circumstance under which one could endeavour all their hopes and visions, wouldn’t one pursue it? The American Dream was introduced as an interpretation to cause the people of America in the early twentieth century to work tougher. The American Dream is the opportunity to reach the goals one sets for themselves. It is about having your dream job and life one has always fantasized about. The dream is also about having freedom and equality. In the novel, “Of Mice & Men”, John Steinbeck uses symbols and motifs such as the vicious slaughtering of virtuous animals, Crooks’ rubbish bunkhouse and Lennie and George’s deception of an ideal farm to exhibit the perception that materialistic success results in happiness is a major flaw in our thinking about the American dream, and it is this thinking which makes the dream unattainable for many.

Propaganda filters throughout the world to lean people’s views one way or another. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, he uses George and Lennie, Crooks, and Curley’s wife to demonstrate the American Dream. This is unattainable but is their motivation to carry on their daily on the ranch lives. George and Lennie’s actions revolve around their American Dream. In a conversation between George and Lennie they discuss their dream, George states “... 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” (Steinbeck, 14). George says this to Lennie to motivate him to keep quiet and out of trouble so they can eventually reach these dreams. The American Dream can be defined as people

Curley's wife tells Lennie about how she hates Curly and she had opportunities to be in a picture/movie and make something out of herself. Curley's wife even meet a guy that was going to help her make it big, but he never responded back, at this point she knew her dreams weren't going flourish so she settled for Curley to get out of her hometown. Curley's wife used Curley as an option b in a sense because she never wanted a husband as controlling and cruel as Curley, but he was the only way to somewhat of a bright future for her. Curley wife tells Lennie about herself because she looks at Lennie as a child-like gentleman and the irony is, of course, Lennie murdering her in the end, but she just was tired of not being able to have contact everyone

For the longest time they had both talked about their desire to become landowners and to grow their own crops. All Lennie wanted was to grow alfalfa to feel to his rabbits. Their shared dreams being out of reach is apparent to the reader until Candy comes into the picture. Candy, a hardworking ranch handyman comes in with a full-fledged proposal. He offers them all of the money he saved up to fund a bit of land George and Lennie had their eyes on. In return, he would like to live on the land with them. They all agree that this is what they will do and not to let anyone know. Lennie destroys this dream by accidentally crushing Curley’s wife’s spine. George, Lennie, and Candy’s dream fails to become reality because of Lennie’s ignorance and strength.

For Lennie, other than his friendship with George, raising and petting the rabbits is all he really wants in life. He wants to hear George tell him over and over about their future, and the rabbit farm once they “get the jack together” for a “little house, and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs and ---” “An’ have rabbits” (14) For George, owning land was freedom and happiness, “S’pose they was a carnival or a circus come to town, or a ball game, or any damn thing.” “We’d just go to her,” “We wouldn’t ask nobody if we could. Jus’ say, ‘We’ll go to her,’ an’ we would.” (61) George never saw the dream becoming reality until Candy offered up his savings “This thing they had never really believed in was coming true”. (60) Crooks, another worker at the ranch, was the voice of a hard reality, “I seen hundreds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an’ that same damn thing in their heads . . . every damn one of ’em’s got a little piece of land in his head. An’ never a God damn one of ’em ever gets it. Just like heaven. Ever’body wants a little piece of lan’. I read plenty of books out here. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land.” (74) After the discovery of Curly’s wife’s dead body in the barn,, George realized his dream was over and it was confirmed when Candy had asked him. “Then -- It’s all off?”

The most important dream in this novel is that of the two main characters Lennie and George. They

For years upon years, we have heard the concept of an “American Dream” repeatedly. In school, at home, and there’s probably several who have mused about it on their own during their time by themselves. It seems that, also, several have concluded that the Dream is dead: gone, disappeared, poof into thin air. Some argue that it’s nothing but a pack of lies our predecessors were fed to believe that perhaps America had a better future lingering just around the corner, or that it’s changed much from what it was ‘back in the day’. The American Dream has remained unchanged since the Great Depression, but the nation we are today may slowly be killing it. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the Dream is to have that equal opportunity for success, the same as in Bobby Jindal’s and Ellen Powell’s articles, but it seems that inequality may be killing the American Dream.

Many people have this idea of the “American Dream” but what exactly is the “American Dream”? In the novella Of mice and Men Steinbeck helped the readers understand that land and home ownership is the “American Dream” because this gives people power, wealth and also hope which is a driving force in society. Steinbeck also shows how the “American Dream” can be different for each person. He illustrates this by showing changes in characters personalities and the detail of the dreams.

Many years ago, my grandparents came to the United States in pursue of the American Dream. They came chasing opportunities and in hope of gaining a better life. As the years passed, they achieved their goal and continued their journey as dreamers. The American Dream as seen by many today is that any person, regardless of their background, can achieve great things in America as long as hard work and effort is put in. Fitzgerald, the author of The Great Gatsby, uses his 1925 novel as an allegory for his interpretation of the American Dream. The American Dream is a never ending dream; those who pursue it thrive for more, and those who achieve it are never satisfied.

88). Curley’s wife’s dream is unfeasible, although she holds onto the dream of being a star and receiving the attention she wants, so dearly. Yet, Steinbeck shows that even this dream too is foolish when Curley’s wife says, “I never got that letter. I always thought my ol’lady stole it. Well, I wasn’t gonna stay no place where I couldn’t get nowhere or make something of myself, an’ where they stole your letters. I ast he if she stole it, too, an’ she says no. So I married Curley” (pg. 88). There could have been a possibility that the man from Hollywood did in fact send the letter and Curley’s wife’s mom did in fact hide the letters, but it is more plausible that the man was a charlatan trying to hustle Curley’s wife. In addition, Curley’s wife married Curley in order to get away from her mother, thus ruining any chance of her going to Hollywood. In short, Steinbeck supports the idea of the American Dream being elusive through Curley’s wife, whose actions of settling for an unfulfilling marriage demolished her chance at immaculate happiness.

Lennie constantly wants George to “tell about what [they’re] gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages” (14). From tending rabbits to owning a farm of their own, the duo has their future set out for them. In addition, George and Lennie toil endlessly to attain their dreams, even moving place to place to earn money. However, all of their planning is wasted when Lennie kills Curley’s wife and has to be executed. When “Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward in the sand” (106), that was the end of both George and Candy’s dreams. The idea of a little quaint farm is originally the two of theirs, and it is not going to be accomplished alone. Even the most diligent people may not have their hopes and dreams fulfilled, no matter how desperately they desire

Repetitiously throughout the story Lennie asks George to explain in detail their drive to work; their big dream of owning an acre of land and shack that they could call their own. You first read of their plans on page 13 when Lennie says to George after an argument, “Tell me like you done before…about the rabbits.” George then goes on until page 15 describing in detail about how they have a future that other ranchers don’t. When Crook catches hear of their dream on page 74 he laughs Lennie off saying, “I seen hundreds of men come by on the road an’ on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an’ the same damn thing in their heads.” However, unlike the other ranchers, George and Lennie’s dream are actually within their grasp. The land is more than just a fantasy or a picture in their minds, in truth, they are in contact with an owner of land that they practically have on hold which is a big motivator for them to work as hard as they possibly can. Even if you may or may not be close to living your desired life, having a dream gives people the extra push through the hardship of the depression, and daily life

George and Lennie are two men that are trying to get enough money to buy a small farm so they can work for themselves. They’ll bring in crops and they’ll keep the money for themselves. George always tells Lennie what they’ll have on the farm and Lennie always says that he’ll tend the rabbits and George always says that Lennie can do that. Lennie is a strong tall

Although she wasn’t physically there Curley’s Wife’s Mom, a bitter old woman, had some responsibility in the death of Curley’s Wife’s. In her last minutes alive Curley’s Wife tells Lennie all about the glamorous life she could have and almost had. She explains to Lennie about how she met an actor and once he got back home to Hollywood he would write her a letter telling

(73). Even though Curley’s wife is not always clear about her feelings doesn’t mean she doesn’t have them. Curley’s wife is an overlooked character, but that doesn’t take away her importance in the story. She should not be slut shamed based on opinions of the big egoed