The Pursuit of the American Dream in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men

The novella, Of Mice and Men takes place in the Salinas River Valley, California during the Great Depression. It was written by John Steinbeck, who grew up near the Salinas River Valley in the 1900s. During the Great Depression, stock markets crashed, and people went poor overnight. Some men would travel from farm to farm just to get enough food to feed themselves. They didn’t have homes, everything they owned could fit in a backpack. In his novella, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses Curley’s wife, Crook, and Candy, to contribute 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

Of Mice and Men is the classic tale by John Steinbeck of two men trying to achieve the American Dream. But things are not going great for George and Lennie. They move from town to town trying to get a job to be able to afford to get their own property, which is made more difficult by the fact the novel takes place during the Great Depression. Besides the obvious effect of the poverty caused by the Great Depression on the characters that it is the reason George and Lennie are migrant workers, it also causes the characters, not just George and Lennie, to be more suspicious and distrustful of those around them. The setting in which this novel takes place, the Great Depression, causes most of the characters to isolate themselves, everyone except

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.

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.

Of Mice and Men, a novella written by John Steinbeck, is the story of two migrant workers, George Milton and Lennie Small, who dream of owning their own farm. The two men secure jobs at a ranch and soon meet a swamper named Candy and Curley’s wife. Like George and Lennie, these characters also dream of having a better life than what they can accomplish while

Of Mice and Men is a short novel that portrays the American struggle during the Great Depression, through the eyes of migrant workers. There are two men who travel around together, George Milton and Lennie Small. Lennie is a mentally disabled man who George takes care of. George and Lennie meet many different kinds of people at the ranch they work at, and have high aspirations of soon moving into a house of their own.

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 novel, 'Of Mice and Men' written by John Steinbeck refers back to The American Dream as 'heaven'. Steinbeck is trying to point out that the American Dream is unrealistic. This novel looks back at the dreams of American individuals in the 1930's. It is set in California at the time of the Great Depression during which the American stock market collapsed leaving the nation in a state of economical disarray.

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.