The Theme of the American Dream in Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck

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.

Despite common stereotypes given to the homeless and poor people in a society, these people make up an important role in humanity. As the author of the book Cannery Row, John Steinbeck’s manifestation of cannery row in Monterey California, shows the true potential and personality of the less fortunate members of society. In Steinbeck’s greenhouse of everyday, average people, he gives a representation of society’s key characters. One of the most influential characters in Steinbeck’s book, “Cannery Row” is the group of poor and homeless men who strive for better lives. However, in today's society, the homeless and poor people in a town are often looked at quite differently than Steinbeck’s representations of the minority.

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.

A white picket fence, a family with kids, a dog, a pristine house, a bountiful garden, to live off of the land. This is what most Americans in the 1930s hoped for, sadly it was a dream rarely fulfilled. In Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice & Men each character has a dream that is important in influencing their actions and opinions.

The author continually exemplifies the negative effects of dreams and hopes, specifically the “American Dream” throughout the book. This dream can also be explained by an individual overcoming all obstacles and beating all odds to one day be successful. However, in the setting of Of Mice and Men, it interprets more commonly in relation to owning land, leading a better and richer life, and living an independent lifestyle. Steinbeck uses Of Mice and Men to show how although the

Cannery Row is a town located in Monterey, California. Despite being small, dirty and crowded, it is a well functioned town and is home to people from different walks of life. In the novel’s prologue, John Steinbeck wrote the following: “Its inhabitants are, as one man once said, ‘whores, pimps, gamblers, and sons of bitches’ by which he meant Everybody” and “[have] the man looked through another peephole he might have said: ‘Saints and angels and martyrs and holy men,’ and he would have meant the same thing” (Steinbeck 1). He basically comments that the difference in viewpoints given the same event results from the power of perspective and duality observed in people. One might see Cannery Row as a low-down place while the others might see Cannery Row as a lively, vigorous town. One would see a character’s actions disputable while the others would see their behaviors admirable. The viewpoints of the readers and the way characters behave at various times explain the fact that Cannery Row and its inhabitants possess qualities crossing good and evil.

Cannery Row is a town located in Monterey, California. Despite being small, dirty and crowded, it is a well functioned town and is home to people from different walks of life. In the novel’s prologue, John Steinbeck wrote the following: “Its inhabitants are, as one man once said, ‘whores, pimps, gamblers, and sons of bitches’ by which he meant Everybody” and “[have] the man looked through another peephole he might have said: ‘Saints and angels and martyrs and holy men,’ and he would have meant the same thing” (Steinbeck 1). He basically comments that the difference in viewpoints given the same event results from the power of perspective and duality observed in people. One might see Cannery Row as a low-down place while the others might see Cannery Row as a lively, vigorous town. One would see a character’s actions disputable while the others would see their behaviors admirable. The viewpoints of readers and the way characters behave at various times explain the fact that Cannery Row and its inhabitants possess qualities crossing good and evil.

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck is a novel containing the problems that people in old Monterey, California, dealt with. Steinbeck grew up in this broken town and watched how life worked around him. Steinbeck himself went through these struggles of having multiple secret insecurities while others perceived him as much different. John Steinbeck now writes about the reality of how people are not always what they seem to be.

An American Dream, what is it? Everyone has dreams,to achieve something great; but do you think you could really even go through with it? The book Of Mice and men by John Steinbeck shows how the American Dream is not attainable he shows that even your most precious dreams for your future can’t be achieved. Throughout the novel Steinbeck does not support the American Dream, as it is shown in a series of events throughout the novel. In the novel it shows that it can’t be achieved in three ways; first Crooks dream comes to an end when Curley’s wife puts him into his place, second Curley’s wife dreams come to an end when she gets killed, and lastly the dream of Lennie and George living on the farm comes to an end when George makes the decision

John Steinbeck’s “Cannery Row” shows how people living there dealt with the hardships brought by the Great Depression. Steinbeck set his novel in the 1930’s in Cannery Row, California. The canneries are an integral part of the fish industry and Steinbeck makes the ailing American economy a critical part of everyone’s lives in his novel. He show how different characters, with different points of view with the exact same situation.

The minor characters in John Steinbeck’s novel Cannery Row are a contradiction within themselves. Steinbeck shows two conflicting sides to each character; for example, Mack is smart and lazy and some of his colleagues are both good and bad. Doc is a father figure with some bad habits. Dora Flood is a kind-hearted saint who happens to run a brothel. Lee Chong is a shrewd businessman who likes to take advantage of others. Henri is an artist with a French background even though he isn’t from France. Through his characters, Steinbeck shows that humans are complicated and can have many faces.

“I think the American Dream used to be achieving one's goals in your field of choice - and from that, all other things would follow. Now, I think the dream has morphed into the pursuit of money: Accumulate enough of it, and the rest will follow” (“Buzz Aldrin Quotes”). The real American Dream is not an income level. The American Dream is the ability to rise through one's own work and improve the condition, no matter where the person started from. John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, and Cannery Row both contain characters that are misfits and outsiders who are lonely and are striving for the American Dream which they think is being successful by being rich, but the author guides people to understand that money is not the root of happiness and success is not necessarily based on being rich.

Human behavior is a function of the environment that he/she is brought up in because it is the environment that shapes the person’s morals. This statement is openly validated in the novel Cannery Row where an inclusive community is built as a result of good morals that have been developed and shaped by the environment. Cannery Row is novel that was published in 1945 by John Steinbeck in Monterey. It was named after a waterfront street in California which had sardine caning factories. According to Grasse et al (75), fellowship and warm-heartedness is all that is required to form a united and successful community. Wealth is important part of one’s life but it should not take away the person’s happiness. Steinbeck in his work uses the characters of the novel to communicate this message in a clear and understandable manner. The name of the novel matches with the actual meaning that the writer wanted to communicate the readers. He used the name to enable the readers to be able to relate the novel’s actual meaning with authentic opinions.

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.

John Steinbeck wrote ‘Of Mice and Men’ to show how hard life was for migrant ranch workers during the time of the Great Depression and how they were often exploited by their employers. In showing how George and Lennie’s dream of owning their own piece of land did not come true, Steinbeck explores a wider theme, criticising the idea of the American Dream. The American Dream tells people that there is ‘opportunity for each... regardless of the fortuitous circumstance of birth and position. Steinbeck criticises this as these ranch workers were given few opportunities. Settings play a very important part in the novel as they pinpoint clear times and places giving a sense of realism to the story, but they are also used to create atmosphere.