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

The reason they are running away, looking for a place to stay is because Lennie grabbed a woman’s soft dress and wouldn’t let go. They had to run away so they wouldn’t get in trouble from the incident. Lennie says, “ An’ have rabbits. Go on George! Tell me what we’re gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages about the rain in the winter and the stove, and how the cream is on the milk like you can hardly cut it” (Steinbeck 14). Lennie is explaining what their dream farm will be like. As he explains the farm, you can tell how excited he gets talking about it. As the story moves on, George makes Lennie’s dream unreachable. Steinbeck explains, “Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand, and he lay without quivering” (Steinbeck 106). George shoots Lennie in the back of the head because he killed Curley’s wife. Curley was mad at Lennie and wanted to kill him but as his friend, George did it so it would be less painful. Steinbeck uses Lennie to prove the failure of the American Dream.

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

It is the natural inclination of all men and women to dream. In John Steinbeck’s novel “Of Mice and Men,” the American dream is sought after by many different characters. However, the main theme in the story is how these dreams are unattainable, and how because of the Great Depression, all American dreams were dead. But what is the American dream? A unitary definition does not exist, however, the meaning of living the American dream is something that differs for everyone. For some people, the American dream might be acceptance and equality. On the other hand, for others, it might mean fame and fortune. In the short story called “Of Mice and Men” the American dream seems unreachable for a number of characters, such as George, Lennie,

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.

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.

People living during the great depression had dreams but on seemed to be the most popular but with their own twist to their dream. The American dream is in the Declaration of Independence stating “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”. This dream is called the American Dream. The American dream is a set of standards in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success that can be achieved through hard work and determination. Steinbeck uses the American dream to give each character a goal to work toward to. Each character had their own American Dream. Owning some land so you could live independently, to tend the rabbits or to be playing cards with the other guys.

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.

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.

Do you have a dream so big it seemed impossible to achieve? There are many examples of how the American dream is just a dream. In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck demonstrates that dreams can come true. In the novel the author shows Lennie's actions and how he reacts to the dream. He also demonstrates the dream and how George and Lennie are going to achieve the dream. Also, Curley's wife and the Stable Buck, Crooks, get caught up in George and Lennie's dream.

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 and George move around a lot to different ranches in hopes of finding better work. In reality they have a dream ranch that does not exist. They dream of living on a ranch where no one tells them what they can and cannot do. They dream of eating all they want and Lennie imagines of having rabbits and other farm animals that he can take care of and have a better life. George talks about him and Lennie having their own farm saying “Well," said George, "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." (p.

The early to mid 20th century was characterized by the notion of the American Dream. As many know, the American Dream is the national ethos that shows freedom in having the opportunity for prosperity and success of the standard American family. On the ranch where George and Lennie labor, Curley’s wife is one such representation of the quintessential American Dream. Her dream is so ingrained in her that it affects her thoughts and actions. In the novella Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, Curley’s wife’s dream of becoming an actress affects her appearance, personality, and interactions in that she feels the need to constantly look attractive and seek attention.

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.