Essay on The American Dream in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Steinbeck shares the same negative opinions about the dream in his essay, “America & Americans: Is the American dream even possible?”, he shows a general negative attitude towards the topic of the American dream. In this essay, he states his opinion on the unachievable American dream which is much like the dream of the of the

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

The American Dream started off as propaganda in order to make the American people of the early twentieth century work harder to build a successful economy. The idea of the American Dream is that every American citizen has an equal opportunity of making money along with owning a large house, some land, and having a family with kids. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck illustrates that the American Dream, no matter how simple is impossible to achieve. As everyone has their own interpretation of the American Dream, Steinbeck uses George and Lennie, Crooks, and Curley’s Wife to demonstrate how the American Dream is impossible to achieve and how important the dream was for people so they could carry on with their lives.

When people think of the American Dream, they think of individuals who climb up from the bottom of society to the top through hard work and determination. This way they could gain possession of the materialist things they always wanted and live a joyful life as well as provide for their families. One also thinks of a society free of prejudice and discrimination where everyone is considered to have an equal status. Yet, when Mark Twain wrote his book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, he intended to reveal the darker side of humanity and how things actually occurred after the Civil War.

Quote #1: "I remember about the rabbits, George.""The hell with the rabbits. That’s all you can ever remember is them rabbits." (1.18-19)

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,

John Stienbeck’s novel “Of Mice and Men” is about the death of the American dream. George, Lennie and Candy’s dream is to own their own piece of land to work and live independently on. This dream is destroyed by Lennie’s ignorance and Lennie’s strength, which he cannot control. Curley’s wife’s dream is to be a famous Hollywood actress. Her dream is destroyed by her marriage to Curley and the Hollywood director who promised to contact her about her acting career but never has. Crook’s dream is for equality. Racism and the attitudes of others destroy this dream.

The American dream is the idea that success is available to all regardless of family background or social status. It is achieved through hard work, talent, and ambition. However, in The Mice of Men, the American dream is not possible. Steinbeck shows this through the actions of Curley’s wife as she represents women of that time. Curley’s wife is a very lonely person and not very hard working. She even antagonizes the men on the ranch because she thinks she can get away with it, which shows just how weak she is. According to Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, the American dream is not possible and this is demonstrated through his use of the character Curley’s wife.

The American Dream is a concept that has been instilled in the minds of citizens for much of America’s history. The Dream is the idea that everyone is equal and that anyone can start with nothing and become successful through hard work and perseverance. Unfortunately, due to prejudices and discrimination, the American Dream has not been attainable for all races and ethnicities that have immigrated to this country in search of a better life. Instead, it has been quite the opposite: no matter how much hard work and perseverance one puts forth, he/she is always beaten down by those in a higher social class. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird explores the concept of the failing American Dream by examining discrimination, prejudice, and social hierarchy in 1930’s Maycomb, Alabama.

The American Dream is often one of the most well-known benefits of living in America. It is the push factor that has driven millions of foreigners to flock to the so-called land of opportunity. Originally, the American Dream was established by a clause in the Declaration of Independence. It reads, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Declaration of Independence par. 2). The original American Dream, as laid out by the founding fathers, was freedom from religious persecution and the right to live a happy life. That simple idea has undergone a significant metamorphosis and now the American Dream is much more complex. It has turned into a deep avaricious dream. This transformation has been noted in contemporary literature, especially in the novels Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. These pieces of literature can be read as a larger commentary on the mutation of the American Dream and how it is now more of a negative desire for greed and material. Both Fitzgerald and Alexie surmise that the American Dream has been twisted and corrupted into an uncontrolled desire that has become unattainable for many and that the pursuit of the dream has become dangerous.

The most important dream in this novel is that of the two main characters Lennie and George. They

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a novel of many themes and one of them is about discrimination direction against someone of a different race. This theme is quite important because it directly refers to the only black character in the book, Crooks. Steinbeck uses only one of the chapters in the book to explain the unfair treatment of Blacks but it’s enough to see the point.

The American Dream has long been thought the pinnacle idea of American society. The idea that anyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, or financial status, could rise from the depths and become anything they wanted to be with no more than hard work and determination has attracted people from all around the world. Two writers from America’s past, however, have a different opinion on the once-great American Dream. F. Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck have given the public their beliefs on the modern Dream through the novels they have written, The Great Gatsby, and Of Mice and Men, respectively. One novel placed during the Great Depression and the other during the Roaring Twenties both illustrate how their author feels about the Dream

All things pass, and it seems the American Dream, this image of the United States being a land of opportunity, is slowly fading away as well. Those roads of gold have corroded and Lady Liberty’s torch is flickering. But maybe I’m wrong, and this inner pessimism has gotten the better of me. Maybe the American Dream is alive and well? We’ve elected a billionaire deemed a bigot and a misogynist as our next president. Our unsustainable social security system is on a path to extinction, and social mobility has come to a screeching halt. Oh how this land of opportunity has opened so many possibilities for the collapse of our nation. As Ehrenreich will demonstrate, the great social mobility associated with the American Dream is a correlation that no longer proves to be true. And though Swift’s discussion in “A Modest Proposal,” deals with the plight that plagues the nation of Ireland, it highlights the point that the common people are suffering with no voice to express their struggles, but rather only with the authorities to remedy the pain that they themselves do not experience, something the American public is dealing with as well, since our voices do not seem to be heard at times as well. This is only one of only the many reasons why the American Dream is faltering, and these readings are all pointing to the American Dream being a façade now, a nice veil to hide the harsh reality that America is facing today.

Crooks however dismisses these beliefs by referencing other ranch workers, “hundreds of men”, to be exact, who have the same aspirations of owning their own land but “God damn one of em’ ever gets it.” The culmination of both texts simply resides that once the potential of the American Dream becomes a reality it results in the collapse of everyone’s dreams and aspirations.