How Does Steinbeck Achieve The American Dream Between 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

A twenty-five percent unemployment rate. People desperate for lodging and food. Families stretching every penny to support themselves. Government trying to solve these problems through reforms and programs. This is what the world in the 1930s was like for Lennie and George, two migrant workers traveling across California, earnestly trying to achieve the American Dream. Even though these dreams seem impossible to accomplish, during the Great Depression a dream was a reason to get out of bed.

It is the natural inclination of all men and women to dream. In John Steinbeck’s novel “Of Mice and Men,” the American dream is sought after by many different characters. However, the main theme in the story is how these dreams are unattainable, and how because of the Great Depression, all American dreams were dead. But what is the American dream? A unitary definition does not exist, however, the meaning of living the American dream is something that differs for everyone. For some people, the American dream might be acceptance and equality. On the other hand, for others, it might mean fame and fortune. In the short story called “Of Mice and Men” the American dream seems unreachable for a number of characters, such as George, Lennie,

The American dream is what someone believes will make the live a “happy life”, what makes life worth living. The idea of it is to succeed at whatever it is you want to have achieved when your life is complete. The American dream can only be attained by hard working. In the book “Of Mice and Men” there are two men, Lennie and George.

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

The early to mid 20th century was characterized by the notion of the American Dream. As many know, the American Dream is the national ethos that shows freedom in having the opportunity for prosperity and success of the standard American family. On the ranch where George and Lennie labor, Curley’s wife is one such representation of the quintessential American Dream. Her dream is so ingrained in her that it affects her thoughts and actions. In the novella Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, Curley’s wife’s dream of becoming an actress affects her appearance, personality, and interactions in that she feels the need to constantly look attractive and seek attention.

Silayman Nagi Mrs. Mack American Literature 29 September 2014 Hopes and dreams are the only things that keep us motivated and hard working. In “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck this is very relevant. George and Lennie are two workers during the great depression. They have a dream of owning their own land but Lennie believes in this more than George.

Steinbeck incorporates the theme of the American Dream, an expression used to represent wanted success, throughout his story Of Mice and Men as he provides glimpses of the dreams of many characters. Towards the end of the novel, the fact is that each of the characters “American Dream” is just that, a dream, which is unattainable. In short, Steinbeck portrays his position of the unrealistic desires for untarnished happiness through the dreams of Candy, Curley’s Wife, and Crooks in Of Mice and Men.

The Great Depression affected everyone in a disastrous way despite gender, race, and social class. This is emphasized strongly in the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. The characters in Steinbeck’s novella, which takes place on a ranch in California during the 1930s, are searching for their hopes and dreams. However, they struggle and fail to overcome poverty, social stigma, and their own sadness. Through the characterization of Curley’s wife, Crooks, and George, Steinbeck portrays that the American dream was not achievable during the Great Depression.

The American Dream has always represented freedom and a chance at a new life, but those who have come and lived it realize it is a lie, a lie which we all buy into— why is that? Dreams, in general, are aspirations that all of us have, and it shows what can be achieved, although dreams are something only kept in the mind. Humans hold dreams about their future which are optimistic and idealistic, but in reality, dreams are never obtainable and cannot exist in the real world.

The American dream is fruitless. At least in John Steinbeck’s book Of Mice and Men, the recurring theme seems to be just that. Dreams, no matter what size or value are always inspiring; they give people the power they need to achieve things that they might not have ever had. This does not always mean that one’s dream will come true though, sometimes no matter how hard one try one never do end up where one want to be. Characters in this book all have dreams, ones only being in America could allow one to obtain, some people share theirs, like Lennie and George, others like Curley’s wife had their own, and even Crooks and Candy, who’s dream were new and short lived, but they all had a dream.

Martin Luther Luther King Jr, once had said “And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream”. This quote would be like his version of the American dream. The American dream Martin Luther King Jr. had said don't surrender to your dreams no matter how hard your difficulties may be or the obstacles in your way, to always fight for what you believe in and go for what you want, just like in John Steinbeck's novella “of Mice and Men”. Steinbeck explores the American dream throughout hardships through the novella as in the Great Depression and being migrant farmers. Many characters in at least some form had their own version of the American dream in their head as they viewed it to to as in to be in pictures or to tend to rabbits, but most people struggled to achieve it.

When we try to chase our dreams, we end up in our own diminutive lonely world. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, has taught readers that the American dream can only ever be accomplished through hard work and determination. More times than others, we are distracted by the dream itself, and don’t chase the reality, which can then lead to high expectations, and without hard determination, that can then failure. In the end, we have been lonely for so long, chasing a dream, that when reality hits us, we become isolated and lonely. For George and Lennie, they have each other, until the American dream seemed too hard to chase.

The theme or main topic of Of Mice and Men is that achieving the “American dream” is virtually impossible for those who are not rich or of the majority, such as women or racial minorities. Nearly every important character has something that they aspire to be or achieve.