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

First, Candy has the dream of getting him a piece of George and Lennie’s land on their farm. This small piece of land means much to Candy, as shown in chapter 3, Candy is talking to George and says, “…you’ll let me hoe

In today’s society, many dream of becoming rich and successful, similar to many people during the Great Depression. The American Dream is the idea that every individual can receive wealth and prosperity due to their hard work and determination. In the novel, Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, George and Lennie are best friends, facing the challenges of the Great Depression by working on a ranch in the Salinas Valley. As Lennie copes with the struggles of the era, he stays focused on his dreams and constantly has a positive mindset, which shows the American Dream can give hope even in the hardest times.

The American Dream, is the wish to prosper. In John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men told during the time of hard labor in the 1930’s about two close friends, who are all each other have, but are chasing this American dream, George and Lennie deal with several obstacles and road blocks with each other. Whether it be, hiding Lennie’s mental illness, or trying to keep a job to fulfill their version of the American dream, George will always carry Lennie in his heart, and Lennie tries his hardest to please George. Through characterization and foreshadowing readers learn about the deeper meaning and theme to the novella of the American Dream. Although some may say that George and Lennie are only externally flawed, by reading deeper, you can

The American dream plays a role that makes each character more hard working and persevered as they try to achieve this goal. The American dream is an idea that every man who is in the United States tries to achieve at some point in his or her life. The dream however differs with each and every person, but they all face a similar road trying to fulfill this almost impossible dream. This road includes hard work, determination and perseverance, and even then it is almost an impossible task to accomplish their dreams. In the novella Of Mice and Men the two main characters, Lennie and George share an American dream, of having their own farm and ranch, and Lennie’s very own dream is to "'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 set around it an' listen to the rain comin' down on the roof...'" They have worked hard for this dream and was almost there as one more month of work at a ranch, and they could have the necessary funds to finally

Throughout the novel, a major theme of the hope for the American Dream is clearly defined in and different for each character. Four of the characters, George, Lennie, Candy, and Crooks, all have the common goal of living and working on their own farm together. Despite this, the motives and ‘American Dreams’ all differentiate. Candy is an elderly man who feels as though he will be discarded due to the lack of need for him at his age. His American Dream is to find a safe haven, where he can be sure he would have a permanent home. Lennie is a young, buff man with a mental disability who doesn’t appear to have any major issues apart from the fact that he fantasizes of owning a farm where George, himself, and rabbits reside. Although this appears strange, Lennie enjoys touching soft objects, so he has this image in his mind of tending to rabbits. Crooks, on the other hand, has a more pressing issue. He is not only a migrant worker, but a colored man as well. Crooks therefore is sheltered from the rest of the workers due to his skin color, and dreams of living a life together with other men, as he is extremely isolated. George is the man who takes care of Lennie, and would just like a home for the two of them where he

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.

The American Dream made the characters become close to one another to create a special bond. The idea about having a small house, with a lawn and animals, with freedom to do what they wanted, was the dream for George, Lennie, Candy, and Crooks. There is a specific part in the novella all the characters unite and start to talk about the land. This ignites a bond between all four members that is created by The American Dream. “ We’ll do her. We’ll fix up that old place an’ we’ll go live there. We’d just go to her, we wouldn’t ask nobody if we could.” They all sat still, all bemused by the beauty of the thing, each mind was popped into the future when this lovely thing should come about. ( page 61 ) This conversation was an inspiration, but also a reality that could happen. The guys realized that, so they had a connection of positively and hard work, because all these factors would help them, get to their

The home and the place that george and lennie seems to treasure and value so much was the dream farm. The dream farm was a place of wishes come true,well to lennie. george having doubts about the dream farm coming true hid hid thoughts away from lennis own. the reason why george would do such a thing was to keep lennie at bay. for example when ‘’ when lennie was having rough times or george wanted to keep him straight forward and listen, george would mention the farm and all of its glories’’ the way that this expresses the american dream was because it strived and also keep hope between lennie and george. the way that the farm would keep hope in lennie and george was that it strived lennie to do his best and when lennie would try hard it would give

The book Of Mice and Men had many themes in it, but only one stood out to me. The American dream was something that all of the characters wanted, but none had. They wanted money, land, better lives, or just to get away from people who label them. Most of the characters were the workers at a ranch, who spent all day in the sun, and weren’t paid as much as they would have liked. They all were doing the hard work and they were determined, but they weren’t getting the success they dreamt about.

Misfortune, grit, and hope are just a few words that can describe America over 80 years ago. John Steinbeck paints a realistic portrait of America in the 1930’s. In doing so, he discusses the important controversial issues in a précis 106 pages. Everything has a purpose, and in writing these 106 pages, Steinbeck had a purpose to fulfill. Steinbeck’s purpose in writing Of Mice and Men consisted of many components, but it can be summed up in three main points. This includes portraying the American dream in the 1930’s, giving insight into life during the Great Depression, and to enlighten readers about what a true friendship consists of.

In every person, there is a dream that they hang on to for dear life. Those dreams are an extensive part of life that motivates people and affect their behavior. After the stock market crash in 1929, the United States fell into the Great Depression, which lasted for 10 years. A year later, the Dust Bowl became a natural disaster that affected the Great Plains for about a decade. During the 1930s, a number of Americans lost their jobs, lost their homes, and in some cases, lost their families. Those tremendous losses affected the dreams of almost every American. This time of loss is when the novel, Of Mice and Men, takes place. The main characters, George Milton and Lennie Small, face the losses of their dreams. The author, John Steinbeck describes a central theme of the inevitable failure of the American Dream, which motivates each character throughout. The American Dream influences several of the main characters, primarily George and Lennie, and then later on Candy and Curley’s wife. Steinbeck, through these characters, explains the impossibility of the American Dream and the power of the American Dream, even if it is hopeless to achieve.

What does it mean to live the American dream? How does that reflect on to Of Mice and Men? Lennie was a handful, and George dealt with all his problems that he caused and stuck with him and looked out for him when no one else would. George and Lennie were different from every other pair of guys, they had each other's back in the hardest times and they cared for each other.

John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men proved that the American dream is unattainable. The characters in the story all have their own idea of what is the American dream. Curley’s wife, a woman who has more than most, is seeking out the American dream. She wants out of her situation, wishing that she had joined the traveling show years before. Curley’s wife openly confesses to Lennie that she “don’ like Curley” because Curley “ain’t a nice fella” (86). She chooses to confide in Lennie because he has taken an interest in her and none of the other men. She is seeking a companionship with him because he does not know any better. She persuades him to touch her hair, which leads to her death. Her American dream was dead long before she married

The spirit of the American Dream is something that many people aspire to have and achieve. However, it takes a large amount of work and time in order to obtain the dream. In John Steinbeck’s book, Of Mice and Men, many of the main and supporting characters, especially Candy, Lennie, and George, want to be living in this dream. Dreams are the main goal that the men work for, but they are extremely hard to accomplish and almost all of them shatter before they come true.

The American Dream does not have an exact definition nevertheless, Steinbeck has shown that the dream for many of the characters in Of Mice and Men truly incorporate two different concepts. For the characters, the American Dream is to own something that they can be proud of and to have someone to share it with. Although, this is every character’s American Dream, it is never likely to be accomplished. For instance, George and Lennie’s American Dream is to, “ get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs and… 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 set around it an’ listen to the rain comin’ down on the roof”