John Steinbeck 's Of Mice And Men

Steinbeck shares the same negative opinions about the dream in his essay, “America & Americans: Is the American dream even possible?”, he shows a general negative attitude towards the topic of the American dream. In this essay, he states his opinion on the unachievable American dream which is much like the dream of the of the

The American Dream started off as propaganda in order to make the American people of the early twentieth century work harder to build a successful economy. The idea of the American Dream is that every American citizen has an equal opportunity of making money along with owning a large house, some land, and having a family with kids. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck illustrates that the American Dream, no matter how simple is impossible to achieve. As everyone has their own interpretation of the American Dream, Steinbeck uses George and Lennie, Crooks, and Curley’s Wife to demonstrate how the American Dream is impossible to achieve and how important the dream was for people so they could carry on with their lives.

”Wha’s the matter with me?’ she cried. ‘Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody? Whatta they think I am, anyways?” (Steinbeck 87) In the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Curley’s wife is discriminated against because she is a woman living in the 1930s when few females could live economically independent of men. By choosing not to name her, Steinbeck reinforces her insignificance on the ranch and her dependence on Curley. While a misfortunate victim of isolation, Curley’s wife exerts unexpected power attempting to mask her pain.

Besides the American Dream, the theme of death plays a major role and is recurring in both texts. From the novel ‘Of mice and men’, both Lennie and Curley’s Wife die. From this we can deduce that they both got killed due to their differences and society looking at them in a different way. Both texts also foreshadow the future deaths from the beginning to the end of the texts, there is hints everywhere. The moment that Curley’s Wife was introduced, an ill feeling overcame the atmosphere indicating that Lennie will be getting into a mess with her. At the beginning, George clearly states that Lennie always gets George into trouble. Steinbeck states ‘You do bad things and I got to get you out’. Previously, before George and Lennie arrived at the ranch, Lennie got into trouble by supposedly attacking the only woman in Weed. This also suggests that there will be trouble between Curley’s Wife, who is the only woman on the ranch and Lennie. Connecting ends with ends, this shows that the only two women are insecure. Later on, there was an intimation that she is going to be killed by Lennie as Lennie kills the soft things he likes to ‘pet’ such as the puppy and the mouse. In the novel Curley’s Wife lets him touch her dress, which is soft therefore leading to an inevitable death.

Loneliness is an emotion of isolation and no hope or dreams in life, which is what John Steinbeck achieves by portraying this through the characters in his novella Of Mice and Men. The main characters are affected by loneliness in their own different way throughout the novella. rf

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.

“I want you to stay with me Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebody’d shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself.” The novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck shows the relationship between two migrant workers in the 1930s, George and Lennie, along with the other members on the new ranch that they began working on. Georgie and Lennie dreamed of following the American Dream and owning their own patch of land and the novel revolves around the dream and the obstacles that stand in their way. Lennie, a strong but mentally ill person, who accompanies George, eventually makes George think about how much easier the dream could be achieved without Lennie, eventually leading to the downfall of their friendship. The novel shows what it means to be human

“Everyone always says that anything is possible, but some things in life just can’t be reached. Sometimes your dreams just can’t be achieved.” (Carl Johnson) All humans living in America have dreams. These could all easily be described as the American Dream. The American Dream can frequently change from time to time due to the time period. It can also change due to the age of the person at hand. Children grow up having these dreams, but who knows how long these dreams will last. Some elderly people develop new dreams or are still chasing to fulfill the dreams they’ve had since they were much younger. These dreams are all things that people want and desire to have. Some of these dreams are unrealistic and could never happen.

The American Dream can be defined as the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. Lots of people during the Great Depression had an American Dream. The problem was, was that the American Dream was never attained because of the somber time period that these poor people were going through. Back then and still today, people say to one another to chase their American dream or never give up, but when faced with difficulties or obstacles, it is hard to overcome the American dream. In the novel, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck all of the characters had some sort of American Dream whether it was big or small during the Depression time period that they wanted to be reached. But none of their American Dreams were attained because Steinbeck’s message was that dreams are supposed to be imagined and not achieved. Although people will argue that the American Dream was achievable during the Great Depression, it actually was not because of people’s disabilities, tough job competition, and the harsh discrimination toward those who were different.

Lennie Small; A simple man with a simple mind in a not-so-simple world. Lennie is mentally handicapped, living in the 1930’s during the Great Depression with his friend and caretaker, George. Because Lennie has the mind of a child but the strength and appearance of a 30-year-old man, which often gets him in trouble. He poorly hides the evidence of his wrongdoing, and cannot fully understand the cost of his own actions which ultimately results in his death. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, Lennie’s death is foreshadowed in conversations, Lennie’s tendencies of petting soft things too roughly, and events that happen on the ranch and in his past

An American Dream, what is it? Everyone has dreams,to achieve something great; but do you think you could really even go through with it? The book Of Mice and men by John Steinbeck shows how the American Dream is not attainable he shows that even your most precious dreams for your future can’t be achieved. Throughout the novel Steinbeck does not support the American Dream, as it is shown in a series of events throughout the novel. In the novel it shows that it can’t be achieved in three ways; first Crooks dream comes to an end when Curley’s wife puts him into his place, second Curley’s wife dreams come to an end when she gets killed, and lastly the dream of Lennie and George living on the farm comes to an end when George makes the decision

Quest stories are generally seen as physical tests of muscle and endurance. In an archetypal quest, the main character goes on a long and painful voyage, and conquers all fears in order to achieve the goal at the end. Literature describes quests in a slightly different way. Thomas Foster’s “How To Read Literature Like a Professor” describes how a quest has five general parts: a place to go, a person to go there, a reason to go there, challenges along the way, and a deeper meaning to the whole thing. John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” relates to Foster’s words. In the novella, George, the main character, is questing towards owning a farm with his mentally disabled friend, Lennie. The two men are a package deal. Lennie

The Great Depression affected many Americans throughout the 1930s. Many people had no source of income and had no other choice but to travel and find new jobs. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, George Milton and Lennie Small wander through California in search of a new job that would help them make enough money to live their American dream on “the fatta the lan’”(Steinbeck 14). George and Lennie’s hard work and determination is not enough for them to live their dream. Lennie has a mental disability that slows the two friends down from living their dream; they have to run from job to job because of Lennie’s unintentional actions.

In Steinbeck’s ‘of mice and men’ set in 1930’s, both Crooks and Curley’s wife are defenseless victims of social prejudice which leads to their sadness and depression. Crooks, being a black man is discriminated and segregated towards by all the other ranchers “They play cards in there but I can’t play because I’m black- Crooks” whereas Curley’s wife being a woman is expected to stay at home and take care of the house “Why don't she get the hell back in the house where she belongs- Carlson”. Furthermore Steinbeck as well as the ranchers view Curley’s wife as “trouble” in Candy’s words and she is later referred as ‘jail-bait’ and ‘tramp’ by other men. Consequently both Crooks and Curleys wife choose to express their hurt in different ways: Crooks holes up in his room with his books in order to escape the harsh reality where he is treated as an outcast while Curley's wife does so by clamoring for attention and desperately trying to be noticed either by creating ‘trouble’ or flirting with the ranchers.

Loneliness is the feeling of isolation and no hope or dreams in your life which is what Steinbeck achieves by portraying this theme effectively using key characters and settings in Of Mice and Men. Steinbeck writes about the Great Depression and how two friends, Lennie and George, stay together through this tough time. They go from town to town and work on ranches, always staying together. This new haven in California they stumble upon seems like a good fit, however Lennie creates problems and terminates their chances of survival there.