The American classic, Of Mice and Men is a novella written and published by John Steinbeck in 1937. In being labelled as a “must-read” by the New York Times, it has notoriously received a Nobel Price for Literature. Set in the dusty town of Soledad, California, the story follows a vagabond pair of friends in search of work. The life of George and his handicapped friend, Lennie, have little connection or worth, despite being driven by the hope of owning their dream farm. The importance of the “American Dream” is highlighted as a key theme in Of Mice in Men, however through the central characters in the novella, Steinbeck positions his audience to respond to the idea that achieving this dream is impossible. Among most characters in of Mice and Men, some form of dream or ambition is mentioned, George and Lennie's being the most central, naturally. However, the desires of other characters like Curley’s wife and Crooks’ also come into light. As it’s revealed that none of these dreams are ever achieved, inevitably the depressing message that “dreams are meant to be dreamt, not fulfilled” is conveyed to the audience.
The dream of George and Lennie’s is seemingly the most important, not only is it the main focus of the plot, but their infectious optimism influences both surrounding characters and the reader. Owning a portion of land in the 1930’s, is no easy feat. The great depression has allowed only the wealthy to own property, which demonstrates a high level of social status
Propaganda filters throughout the world to lean people’s views one way or another. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, he uses George and Lennie, Crooks, and Curley’s wife to demonstrate the American Dream. This is unattainable but is their motivation to carry on their daily on the ranch lives. George and Lennie’s actions revolve around their American Dream. In a conversation between George and Lennie they discuss their dream, George states “... We’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres, an’ a cow and some pigs” (Steinbeck, 14). George says this to Lennie to motivate him to keep quiet and out of trouble so they can eventually reach these dreams. The American Dream can be defined as people
John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men is set during the Great Depression, whereas the American Dream is a crucial belief that is a part of the itinerant workers’ life. As itinerant workers, people worked from ranch to ranch, hoping to achieve their dream. Besides the hard work, the author Steinbeck reveals the tragic death of Lennie at the end of the story. A number of characters like George, Lennie, Curley and Curley’s wife are all responsible for the death of Lennie at the end of the story, however, George, Lennie himself and Curley’s wife are the most culpable.
In the novella Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, the struggle to achieve the American Dream; sucess, happiness and ownership of land weaves into the life of Crooks, an African American, disabled character who labors in the rural Californian ranch environment of the 1930’s. Throughout the story, Crooks struggles with the constant physical pain from his back, and emotional pain from the prevailing racism of this time period that isolates him from others. Due to his disability and race, Crooks is lonely, isolated and depressed, making it nearly impossible for him to achieve his dream.
Lennie and George’s dream is to own a piece of land to work and live where they can have cows, pigs, chicken a vegetable patch with alfalfa and rabbits. “O.K Someday – we’re going
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.
The most important dream in this novel is that of the two main characters Lennie and George. They
For years upon years, we have heard the concept of an “American Dream” repeatedly. In school, at home, and there’s probably several who have mused about it on their own during their time by themselves. It seems that, also, several have concluded that the Dream is dead: gone, disappeared, poof into thin air. Some argue that it’s nothing but a pack of lies our predecessors were fed to believe that perhaps America had a better future lingering just around the corner, or that it’s changed much from what it was ‘back in the day’. The American Dream has remained unchanged since the Great Depression, but the nation we are today may slowly be killing it. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the Dream is to have that equal opportunity for success, the same as in Bobby Jindal’s and Ellen Powell’s articles, but it seems that inequality may be killing the American Dream.
not be the case for anyone else as George and Lennie were the only two
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 book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck depicts the american dream by telling a story of two friends named Lennie and George who share a dream of having their own farm. Lennie is a more sensitive character who doesn’t have much of a brain and George is a very independent and strong character. In the text Steinbeck was successful at making Lennie sympathetic because he shows with different events in the book how Lennie reacts to them based on his character traits.
Lennie constantly wants George to “tell about what [they’re] gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages” (14). From tending rabbits to owning a farm of their own, the duo has their future set out for them. In addition, George and Lennie toil endlessly to attain their dreams, even moving place to place to earn money. However, all of their planning is wasted when Lennie kills Curley’s wife and has to be executed. When “Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward in the sand” (106), that was the end of both George and Candy’s dreams. The idea of a little quaint farm is originally the two of theirs, and it is not going to be accomplished alone. Even the most diligent people may not have their hopes and dreams fulfilled, no matter how desperately they desire
The dream of attaining land and – ultimately – happiness is one which motivates nearly every character. George often speaks to Lennie of a farm where the two of them can live in peace “an’ live off the fatta the lan’.” In these instances, at the novel’s opening and its ending, George is the accomplished
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.
George and Lennie work on the land and their dream is to one day have some land of their own.