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

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.

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.

“Guys like us, that work on ranches are the loneliness guys in the world. They got no family...we got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us” (Steinbeck 14). During the Great Depression, much of society is alienated while survival of the fittest prevails. The power of loneliness affects the individual involved as long as the society it is present in continues to harvest the discriminatory ways. During the 1930’s, the Great Depression was at its peak; The stock markets crashed, and a chain reaction caused the unemployment rates to rise to an all time high. Thus, migrant worker became popular because they were always needed on a farm and it was a way for one to find employment. In of Mice and Men, Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife are all victims of the Great Depression. Candy and Crooks work on the farm, while Curley’s wife is the flirtatious nuisance whose dreams were crushed. The pervasive emotion throughout this novella is loneliness. Loneliness is felt by Candy, Crooks, and and Curley’s wife, whether it’s being represented symbolically as the characters are fighting social devastation, learning to make it alone, or through their actions.

In a different, yet similar way, Steinbeck also uses irony to illustrate the American Dream. He too shows the problems of the Dream with his use of the literary device. “Before George answered, Candy dropped his head and looked down at the hay. He knew. George said softly, “- I think I knowed from the very first. I think I knowed we’d never do her. He usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would.” (Steinbeck, 94) After so much work and pain, George and Candy realize that their dream has been a lost cause. While kind, Lennie’s mistakes have ended their goal of purchasing their own land and having a better life. George still has a chance of attaining his goal, but it has been severely injured. In the honest efforts of George, Lennie, and Candy, Steinbeck presents some form of flaw in the American Dream with his use of the brutal irony that is the downfall of the trio’s dream. Both authors have an apparent detestation towards what the American Dream has become in their time, and irony proves to be an outstanding apparatus to capture their thoughts.

One of the most important themes in Of Mice and Men is the theme for the need of human interaction or companionship. This theme is first brought in light by the main character himself ( George)who says to Lennie,” Guys like us that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family, no place to belong to[pg:13].” This theme becomes more significant when throughout the story they are remarked as the only known ranch workers who travel together. This seen as odd due to expectation that seems to imply that during the time of great depression, people were mostly travelling alone and were therefore lonely.

This impossible dream or vision is demonstrated through the characters George and Lennie both characters have a dream of owning land, being self employed and living a life of independence and dignity. As the novella continued, more characters became apart of that dream, which Steinbeck shows as a metaphor for an alternate America. " Well, a show come through an' I met one of the actors. He says I could go with that show. But my ol'lady wouldn' let me.

The combination of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl is one of the most depressing and loneliest times in History. In the book Of Mice and Men two characters, George and Lennie are workers traveling along looking for work. The story takes place on a new farm where they meet new characters going more in depth on what life is like during these times. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck Develops the concept of loneliness through Curley’s wife and her restrictions, Crooks race, and Candy’s inability to work to demonstrate how loneliness has the ability to make someone treat others negatively. Curly’s wife although very different from the guys who worked on the farm, she is just as much the same.

The 1930’s was a decade full of loneliness. The Great Depression had a major effect on the American population in many ways including but not limited to personal finances, jobs, health, security, and emotions. As a result, loneliness became rampant throughout America during this troublesome decade. Published and set during the 1930s, the famous novella Of Mice and Men portrays the theme of loneliness very well. In Steinbeck’s book, the theme of loneliness is best represented by the characters of Curley’s wife, Crooks, and Lennie.

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 American Dream in Of Mice and Men The American Dream is a major part of the novel, “Of mice and Men” by john Steinbeck. The novel follows a short piece of the character’s George and Lennie’s life, in the great depression. It shows how most people lived and brought up the idea of a dead American dream though many characters some of which include, George and Lennie, Candy, and Carly’s wife. The novel shares al lot in common with other American novels like, the Crucible, the adventures of huckleberry Finn, and the Great Gatsby.

The “American dream” also gives the readers hope for Lennie and George that the two have will change for the good. The reader’s wish to see George and Lennie fulfill the goal they have, but as the novel continues they realize that this dream will not come true for the

In John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, the theme of the American Dream’s destruction resonates throughout the novel within the 1930s Great Depression Era of the United States setting. The idea of the futility of the American Dream is put into heavy focus as the author explores the theme through the character Lennie Small and his contribution to the figurative fall of man’s ambitions. Steinbeck utilizes Lennie’s flaws to illustrate the ultimate flaws of the American Dream. The character is innocent yet destructive, two failings on which the premise of the American Dream is suggested to be built upon due to its fragile nature deriving from its unharmonious components. The novella focuses upon the construction and the development

Loneliness is a terrible feeling which could led to depression, aggression and defensive. During the 1930s maybe problem we’re around for example the bust bowl that whipped out farms, the Great Depression which made it hard for money and lastly this makes it real hard for Candy,Crooks and Curley’s wife. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck, develops loneliness by using Candy, Curley’s wife and Crooks to show how loneliness can make someone either angry, defensive or even depressed. Steinbeck has developed the feeling of loneliness and its effects on his characters.

Using language, Steinbeck communicate the idea that achieving the American dream is impossible. The use of simile to communicate the idea of how Lennie symbolises the impossibility of the American dream.

Throughout John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, we see the frequent and divisive theme of loneliness. In 1930s America the Great Depression was underway, and this left many men unemployed. Many men left their friends and families in search of menial labour and travelled America on a solo search for a job. They’d work this job for a month or so, then collect their money and move on to the next job. These jobs would mostly be on ranches, and due to the inherently hierarchical structure of ranches, and the temporary lifestyle that the men lived, this would leave many men with no other people that they could consider friends.