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

Very often, people leave behind their dreams for more practical solutions to dismal situations. In Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men, dreams often serve the purpose of giving characters new opportunities. Dreams are also typically unattainable, yet characters in the novel spend much of their time trying to achieve them. Because the Depression era was so destitute, Lennie and George’s dream is a positive distraction from their seemingly hopeless situation. These reasons expose a deeper, more tragic truth of the era. Lennie and George's dream affirms that dreams are often unattainable distractions from real life.

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.

A lot of the men on the farm were lonely this dream gave some hope of getting out of the way were living. Candy and Crooks were a few that were drawn in by this dream. Crook had said “Crook called ‘Candy!’ ‘Huh?’ ‘member what I said about hoein and doin’ odd jobs’ “ (83). This shows how Crooks had volunteered himself to do the jobs that no one would want to do just so he would be apart of this dream. Candy also came in saying “s’pose I went in with you guys. Tha’s three fifty i’d put in.” (59) This shows you that Candy was willing to give them a lot of money to let him in on their deal. Candy again shows this with saying “I’d make a will an’ leave my share to you guys in case I kick off…” (59) Candy was literally going to give them everything to be apart of their dream. George and Lennie’s dream was an inspiration to all that heard of it and they would do anything to get into the dream the men have

For the longest time they had both talked about their desire to become landowners and to grow their own crops. All Lennie wanted was to grow alfalfa to feel to his rabbits. Their shared dreams being out of reach is apparent to the reader until Candy comes into the picture. Candy, a hardworking ranch handyman comes in with a full-fledged proposal. He offers them all of the money he saved up to fund a bit of land George and Lennie had their eyes on. In return, he would like to live on the land with them. They all agree that this is what they will do and not to let anyone know. Lennie destroys this dream by accidentally crushing Curley’s wife’s spine. George, Lennie, and Candy’s dream fails to become reality because of Lennie’s ignorance and strength.

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.

In “Of Mice and Men”, the American Dream was literally a miracle during a time where money and work was scarce. With “I hardly never seen two guys travel together… Never seem to give a damn about nobody.”, Slim sums up the nature of the people at the time, they were lone wolves and the dream was an impossible task to accomplish alone. Even so, the bond between Lennie and George gives the audience hope through the use of encouraging descriptions such as “We got a future. We’ll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit-hutch and chickens.” However, this all comes falling down when they meet Curley’s wife. She recounted her dream of “Coulda been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes…coulda sat in them big hotels, an’ had pitchers took of me.” Repetition of the word “coulda” gave the reader a sense of what could’ve been if her dreams came true but instead her marriage has become lifeless. Curley’s wife showed that the American Dream apart from its beauty and hopes, was too fragile for reality during the Great Depression.

One of the themes shown in the book Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck is hope given to characters by having a dream. There are characters that had ambition of having their own life where they could be independent. Lennie, George, Candy, and Curley’s wife are those characters who make up the dream theme, they all want something different than what they already have, this is their 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.

Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, portrays a glimpse of the hardships many went through while living and working under the pressure of an independent life, who desired comfort, happiness, and riches through their “American Dreams”. The struggle in finding the key to a pleasurable life during “The Great Depression”, was a period of gloom, discrimination, and the beginning to a rise for dreams. Steinbeck’s supposed depiction of the serene ranch lifestyle, shows how they impacted their life as a whole, and what it led them to believe for the future. From social exclusion to the idea of marginalization, this story of the unbroken bond two friends share, describes how at times, we may not achieve what we always looked forward to, but

John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, illustrates the struggle of two workers, George and Lennie, trying to accomplish their dreams and their inevitability to fail.

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.