Of Mice And Men Disillusionment Analysis

The author, Steinbeck, uses his own personal experience to “serve as an inspiration…” (Johnson 1) when writing this particular story. His past experiences also helped him for the future. Lennie, of all characters, is the least dynamic. He undergoes a significant amount of change and develops throughout the story. He has been isolated with George throughout his life. His sole purpose in life is to make George happy and to own a farm with George and take care of the soft rabbits. Lennie is the most innocent and defenseless. He also is the largest and strongest, which does not help in certain situations. Lennie is the protagonist in the story. He gains the readers sympathy by his intellectual disability and helplessness. Lennie murders things by accident such as the mouse in his pocket, the puppy and Curley’s wife. He enjoys the touch of and somehow uses those murders and experiences to scare him from doing it again. George’s opinion means the most to him.

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.

But Lennie, perfecting his craft one incident at a time, messes everything up. Lennie’s biggest fear was not being able to tend the rabbits when they get their own land, and he loved those rabbits. Lennie grieving over killing his puppy starts conversing with Curley’s wife, a decision he should have never made. Lennie got caught in an unbelievable predicament with Curley’s wife, he was holding her mouth shut while pulling her hair, getting angry at her tell her to shut up, because he does not want to get in trouble. Because, if he did he would not be able to tend the rabbits. As she continued to scream, louder and louder as seconds went by, Lennie with his harmless intentions did not know what to do, so he shook her to get her to shut up but unintentionally broke her neck (Steinbeck, 91). Lennie knowing what to do if he ever did something bad, escapes to the hideout that only him and George know about. Eventually, everybody finds out about Curley’s wife when Candy found her dead body in the barn. At this moment, George knew he had two decisions that would change his life forever. He would either side with his new friends and find Lennie, or escape with Lennie and find another place to work. George makes the right decision and sides with his friends, but he knew they wanted Lennie dead, so he decided to do it himself. George met up with Lennie at their hideout and told him to look the other way and envision everything good about the farm, not wanting to harm Lennie he made sure he was as happy as he could be at that very moment. As George started to describe the farm to him, he put the gun to the back of his neck and pulled the

Because Lennie is confused he grabs her hair and tries to make her stop yelling. But because Lennie does not know how to control his own strength, he squeezes Curley’s wife’s neck too hard and crushes her spine. Lennie then flees the ranch because Curley wants to kill him for what he did to his wife. So Lennie is not brutally murdered by Curley, George finds Lennie and, because he cannot get him out of trouble, shoots Lennie. Lennie’s uncontrollable strength and ignorance destroyed his, George and Candy’s dream

The American Dream is not something you get, but it’s something you have to work hard for, this is what George Milton believes the American Dream to be. Whilst George and Lennie often speak about their dream of getting a farm and working hard to get it, George always looks towards the work involved in getting it. As George states in the novel, “We gotta keep it till we get a stake. We can’t help it, Lennie. We’ll get out jus’ as soon as we can. I don’t like it no better than you do.” Through this quote, Steinbeck is revealing that for the men to get their American Dream, they must go through troubling,

The two gentlemen alway had a big dream through the entire novel. Their American Dream was definitely alive. In the novel, there was a lot of talk about George and Lennie having a ranch of their own. Them living in luxury; to them anyway. "An' live off the fatta the lan'," Lennie shouted. (Steinbeck 14). As this conversation continues, George replies, " we'll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch and chickens. And when it rains in the winter, we'll just say the hell with goin' to work, and we'll build up a fire in the stove and sat around it an' listen to the rain comin' down on the roof." (Steinbeck 14-15). This quote demonstrates the imagination and the dedication to this dream that they had about getting their own little piece of land. Towards the end of the novel George is stirred up and he left the impression that the only reason this dream came about was because Lennie loved hearing about it, it was the only thing that made him happy. So I think that George's American Dream was dead before he even started. He was just trying to make Lennie

In this novel, George and Lennie have the dream to purchase a small farm and farm the land themselves. In contrast to most dreams, their dream is very modest and achievable. Their dream is realistic because their friendship has been established through years of togetherness and the basic needs of both the characters (Scott, 1985, p. 39). George and Lennie are dependant on each other. Through Lennie, George can feel superior and justify his own failures. Through George, Lennie is provided with direction in life. Lennie is protected from himself by George. But, the most prominent reason their dream is realistic is that the farm is in actual existence and George has a vivid picture of it in his mind (Scott, 1985, p. 43). Sadly, regardless of the realism of their goal, inevitable destruction must occur. Although it is beyond his control, Lennie’s circumstances are what destroys the dream. Steinbeck creates Lennie to exist in a society where he is rejected because of his constant conflict with others. According to Brenda Foster Scott in John Steinbeck's Concept of the Individualistic Survival of the American Dream, “such characters are destined for failure not only because of a non-teleological view which pits them against a world which lies beyond any distinctions of that which is moral or immoral, but also against a society which cannot tolerate their inabilities to

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

In 1929 the effect of The Great Depression echoed throughout The United States. Forcing many farmers to sell their farms and give up on their pursuit of the widely sought after American Dream. Although in third person Steinbeck centers the novella around the two main characters George, and Lennie. Using strong rhetorical strategies such as diction, imagery, novel structure, and literary devices. Steinbeck crafts a story that expresses the hardships of achieving the American Dream.

"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.

Lastly Lennie and George did not get the dream of living on the farm like they wanted because lennie died. “He pulled the trigger; lennie jarred, then settled forward in the sand; and he lay without quivering” (Steinbeck 117). Lennie and George had a huge dream about living on the farm. George made decision to help his best friend to save him. After the fact is that he died and then they lost the dream of ever living on the farm. In the last chapter is states that lennie died. This is a huge part of the book, because George and lennie had the dream to live on the farm and to live a life where they wouldn’t be judged for the way that they are. This shows that even for best friends Steinbeck does not support the American Dream. Their dream at ever living on the farm is a zero chance, how could George go on and live on a farm after he killed his best friend in order to save him from having a painful death.

John Steinbeck’s simple-minded, static character Lennie is apposite to the universal theme of the American dream. He has merely one desire; the desire to tend to rabbits on the homestead he independently owns with George. Throughout the novel, he repeatedly expresses this fervid aspiration. For instance, as George discusses his respective dream, Lennie enthusiastically interjects with, “An’ live of the fatta the lan’...An’ have rabbits. Go on, George! Tell about what we’re gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages (Steinbeck 46).” Although this single anecdote effectively represents Lennie’s eagerness to achieve his dream, the reiteration of this desire causes it to gain greater intensity. This is shown upon Lennie’s first dinner at the ranch, when he inquires, “George, how long’s it gonna be till we get that little place an’ live on the fatta the lan’—an’ rabbits? (93)” This quote exemplifies Lennie’s manifestation of his hope and desperation in relation to achieving his dreams. However, Lennie’s dream remains unfulfilled because of the conflicting reality present that results from the occurrence of the Great Depression. Specifically, the emplacement of great economical strains upon workers hinders his ability to own and maintain homesteads due to the lack of money. The premise of a better life keeps him hopeful throughout the novel.

The tragedy in this ultimate display of brotherly love is that it comes too little too late. Instead of seeing the good he has in front of him all along, George doesn’t realize until the situation is out of his control just how lucky he was to have Lennie in his company. All he can really see in the future is his big dream of their own house with lots of farm land and animals to look after, living “off the fatta the lan’” with no worries or cares. This goal almost seems attainable when Candy mentions all the money he has saved up and George becomes blind-sided by the possibility of his dream coming true so much sooner than he had imagined. In this, he loses sight of what is really important to him, which is Lennie. He forgets how Lennie is and let’s go just long enough for Lennie to get himself into trouble for the very last time. This time, Lennie has actually killed a woman and done something George can’t fix for him and every hope he’s ever had goes out the window with the loss of his best friend

Lennie loves to pet soft objects, and he’s obsessed with mice and rabbits because he loves how nice their fur feels. Every time he pets things he likes, he always gets himself into trouble. In the very beginning of the book, George and Lennie have to run away from a town. They need to escape because a woman accuses Lennie of raping her but all he did was pet her soft dress. When the women started screaming Lennie got afraid and held on. Lennie doesn't understand right from wrong when it comes to situations like this.. “Jus’ wanted to feel that girl’s dress-jus’ wanted to pet it like it was a mouse.”(Doc B) This dialogue from Lennie shows how he can’t control himself. Later in the book Lennie gets a puppy that he can pet without harming it. Lennie ends up petting it too hard and kills the puppy. “I di’n’t know you’d get killed so easy.” (Doc B) This quote shows how Lennie didn’t mean to harm the puppy. When Curley's wife talks with Lennie and tells him he can pet her hair, things don’t turn out well. While lennie pets Curley's wife's hair, she yells many times “Let go!” This startles Lennie and he ends up snapping her neck by accident. John Steinbeck foreshadows Curley's Wife's death by showing how when Lennie pets soft things, he gets in trouble or ends up killing what he’s

George and Lennie’s dream might have never been obtainable due to Lennie’s undiagnosed mental problem along with the depression. To achieve the American dream is to be fully independent and own land. The first setback was the difficult and long task of not only finding, but keeping a job. This proved to be almost impossible for the pair due to Lennie’s track record. George stated, “Well he seen this girl in a red dress. Dumb bastard like he is, he wants to touch ever’thing he likes. Jus’ wants to feel it. So he reaches out to feel this red dress an’ the girl lets out a squawk , and the only thing he can think to do...and I heard all the yellin’, so I comes runnin’, an’ by that time Lennie’s so scared all he can think to do is jus’ hold on.” (Steinbeck) That was a setback in George and Lennie’s plan to achieve their dream. The duo made their way to the ranch with the work cards to find a job to