Essay about John Steinbeck Common Themes

Ever since humanity has come into existence, the world has allowed dreams to blossom into beautiful flowers or be rejected and die like a fly swatted in a household. Each dream may end in a success or a tragedy, but it is up to the discretion of the cruel, but rewarding world humans inhabit. In the novel of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, a myriad of characters all have dreams that they passionately want to fulfill. Curley’s wife, who remains unnamed in the book, has a dream of becoming Hollywood’s biggest star. Crooks, the black stable-hand only dreams of being able to have friends and be seen as an equal to others. Lennie and George are a pair of migrant workers who want to live the American dream and have their own ranch. Each of these characters’ dreams were all torn down by the world, illustrated by Steinbeck as a cruel place where dreams cannot come true, no matter how passionate a person may be.

Another time a minor character shows Steinbeck’s beliefs about the American Dream is when Crooks and Lennie talk about the farm where Lennie wants to live on with George. Crooks says, “you’re nuts. I’ve seen hundreds of men come by on the roads an’ on the ranches with their bindles on their backs an’ the same damn thing in their heads” (72). In that line, Steinbeck basically condenses all of his beliefs into one phrase. He states that the American Dream is just a dream, and that those who believe otherwise are deluding themselves.

Everyone has a life history, John Steinbeck also has a history of his own. His life story began on February 27, 1902, in the farming town known as Salinas from California (Schillinglaw). He had four siblings, but he was the only boy in the four. Olive Hamilton Steinbeck was his mother and she was a former teacher in that time period. The town where he grew up at, was a farming town and still a farming town, it has rich green fields and surrounded by landscapes of broad yellow valleys. He and his family had lived a comfortable life as a middle class family during his childhood (Shmoop). When Steinbeck was done with high school, he worked for many places and different kinds of jobs which were a laborer for a sugar factory in Salinas, a laborer in mills, and a ranch hand (Reuben) .John Steinbeck went to Stanford University and majored his English there, but he had never receive any degree (Reuben). In 1925, after he had worked hard in studying, John decided to leave

On February 27, 1902, in Salinas County, California, an American Novelist named John Steinbeck was born. He had an early appreciation for the land, in particular, California's Salinas Valley, which would be a big impact on his writing later on. Steinbeck’s life is very similar to the book he would write, Of Mice and Men, which takes place in his hometown Salinas, and also has the same theme of Steinbeck’s life. Steinbeck experienced harshness in his life, drifting out of schools for six years until he dropped out for good. There are many themes found in the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, but the most significant theme is the harshness of life, which frequently appears and develops throughout the novel.

"The American Dream is that any man or woman, despite of his or her background, can change their circumstances and rise as high as they are willing to work” (Fabrizio Moreira). For many years, men and women struggled to achieve the idealistic life of living on independent terms. Many characters in Of Mice and Men work in order to pursue and achieve the American Dream that consisted of having their own house and income. Characters in the book may use that dream to help the overcome their life struggles and personal problems. Of Mice and Men tells the story of two friends, George and Lennie, who find themselves on a ranch in pursuit of their dreams. Unfortunately for them, circumstances beyond their control cost Lennie and George their dream and much more. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck portrays how dreams create a false sense of hope in order to cover up the realities of life through George, Curley’s wife, and Candy.

I. John Steinbeck used his personal experiences as a laborer to write many of his novels like Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath.

John Steinbeck, an American novelist, is well-known for his familiar themes of depression and loneliness. He uses these themes throughout a majority of his novels. These themes come from his childhood and growing up during the stock market crash. A reader can see his depiction of his childhood era. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck shows the prominent themes of loneliness, the need for relationships, and the loss of dreams in the 1930s through the novels’ character.

	 John Steinbeck was a famous American author who wrote from the 1920 to the 1940. Steinbeck was constantly moving across the country trying to succeed as a writer. John Steinbeck lived a life of constant up and downs, successes and failures before he landed on his feet and became a famous author.

“It is true that we are weak and sick and ugly and quarrelsome but if that is all we ever were, we would millenniums ago have disappeared from the face of the earth.” John Steinbeck said this of all humankind. He thought highly of us as a species, just as Dr. Stockmann did in Henrik Ibsen’s play Enemy of the People. Both men had problems in their societies, Stockmann in his town and Steinbeck in America, and both believed that humans were capable of seeing the problem and fixing it. The rest of the population did not see this as the case. They believed he was an enemy of the people and a threat to their way of life. Because of how Steinbeck expressed his views, people felt threatened by what he wrote and they called him a threat to

Additionally, Of Mice and Men depicts the broken dream of the two protagonists, Lennie and George. The two men, whose dream is to own a farm of their own, despise working on ranches as George denotes in his statement, “For two bits I'd shove out of here. If we can get jus' a few dollars in the poke we'll shove off and go up the American River and pan gold. We can make maybe a couple of dollars a day there, and we might hit a pocket…We gotta stay” (Steinbeck 33). George fantasizes about leaving the ranch, but he knows that both he and Lennie will not be able to survive without a job. Candy, also a worker on the Californian farm, offers his life savings to Lennie and George so as to be included in their plan to buy a place of their own. This shows the dream of the workers, who hope to leave employment and have farms of their own. Now, the line “Nowhere else to go/ Work satisfies” further demonstrates that there is no other choice but to work and keep up a stake as that is the only way to survive. Any desire to give up work to lead an effortless lifestyle is disregarded, as many people of this time, the Great Depression, are realists. They understand that chasing a dream unrealistic of this time period is foolish and without a doubt will end badly.

unable to come to terms with a world at war, though he served for a few

John Steinbeck’s novella ‘Of Mice and Men’, explores the idea of the American Dream through characterisation, setting and symbolism. Steinbeck’s characterisation of Lennie and George, highlights the idea of the American Dream through their open dialogue. Furthermore, the setting of the remote ranch in California, allows the idea of the American Dream to be thoroughly illustrated. Additionally, the dream farm that Lennie and George aspire to own, proposes the idea of the American Dream through symbolism. Thence, the author John Steinbeck uses literary techniques to explore the prominent ideas of the American Dream.

The American dream is the main Idea In John Steinbeck book Of mice and men. The idea of the American dream is that is suppose to be attainable by anyone regardless of race,wealth,religion, or just any other factors. In the book the two Friends George in Lennie dream about owning their own ranch and living off the “fatta of the land” and to just enjoy life basically,Living off the “fatta the land” is the parallel to the American dream, but as the poem “To a mouse” that the book is named after states “The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men Gang aft agley, An'lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, For promis'd joy!”

The general quality of John Steinbeck’s novels are to show the true side of human nature, whether that be how we treat others or our basic survival instincts. His books are still popular today because they express the realistic side of the human spirit, we are animals who want to belong and thrive among others. He was able to capture what actually happened in American life during the Great Depression and show that even the most powerful nations have struggling internal problems. In Steinbeck’s books he created sensible characters that lived in harsh worlds where they were exposed to discrimination, oppression, loneliness, and the fact that no matter how much they made an effort they wouldn’t amount to anything in the end. His novels were also seen as an influential standard for social and political issues across the United States.

The associable characters and universal themes help many people in different situations to be able to relate the story with today's society. Of Mice and Men has the power to captivate the readers' minds with its timeless qualities: pursuit of the American dream, prejudice, and friendship. Just as George and Lennie dream of "‘[living] offa the fatta the lan'" (Steinbeck 57) for the security of a home and for freedom, people today strive for a family, a job, fame, and opulence. For example, many immigrants who have a difficult time in their homelands try to come to America, a land of promise, to fulfill their American dream. However, similar to Lennie and George, some immigrants fail to realize the reality of the land of opportunity. Additionally,