What Is The Pursuit Of Happiness In The American Dream

Ever since humanity has come into existence, the world has allowed dreams to blossom into beautiful flowers or be rejected and die like a fly swatted in a household. Each dream may end in a success or a tragedy, but it is up to the discretion of the cruel, but rewarding world humans inhabit. In the novel of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, a myriad of characters all have dreams that they passionately want to fulfill. Curley’s wife, who remains unnamed in the book, has a dream of becoming Hollywood’s biggest star. Crooks, the black stable-hand only dreams of being able to have friends and be seen as an equal to others. Lennie and George are a pair of migrant workers who want to live the American dream and have their own ranch. Each of these characters’ dreams were all torn down by the world, illustrated by Steinbeck as a cruel place where dreams cannot come true, no matter how passionate a person may be.

The American Dream has always been one of the most prominent ideals in American society. Of Mice and Men was written by Steinbeck in 1937. It focuses on the lives of two men, Lennie and George, as they try to fulfill their own American Dream of owning a small farm. While this seems like an attainable dream in the beginning, Steinbeck chooses instead to destroy this dream utterly with the death of Lennie. Curley’s wife had an American Dream of being an actress, but she was condemned to a life on a farm with a man she doesn’t love. By destroying the American Dreams of Lennie, George, and Curley’s Wife in Of Mice and Men, prove Steinbeck believes that the American

By looking at Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck one can see the American Dream as a major theme which is important because through the characters of Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife Steinbeck reveals that the dream is often a myth.

Hopes and dreams can be very important for peoples’ needs and survival. In Steinbeck’s story, Of Mice and Men, each of the main characters is driven by their hopes and dreams; it provides a sense of motivation and animation to each of their being. From Lennie and George being driven by their hopes and dreams of owning a farm, to Curley’s wife’s dreams of becoming an actress, having dreams plays an essential role in giving hope to the characters of Steinbeck’s story. Although dreams and hopes are essential themes in Steinbeck’s story, in a sense, Steinbeck does seem to emphasize that dreams are not meant to be achieved, and that there are other factors that are essential for survival. I believe Steinbeck included their dreams to give

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.

Everyone has dreams, big and small. When one dreams, there is a scent of whimsical hope in the air mixed with the powerful drive for success to obtain their luminous goals. But, many times these luscious dreams end up in grief and pain instead of a promised joy due to the hurdles in life, such as the certain circumstances that society professes or the flaws in a person that restrains them from their aspirations. The writer, John Steinbeck, incorporates this ideology in his novella, Of Mice and Men by creating three pivotal characters. Lennie, Crooks, and George all have schemes that go wrong, and yet hope to illustrate their desires of fulfilling their American Dream and to be prosperous for their own independent purposes.

Many of famous figures in our society’s past have spoken their minds about the American Dream, for each and every one of those minds, are a different response. J. G. Ballard once spoke of his American Dream, “The American Dream had run out of gas. The car has stopped. It no longer supplies the world with its images, its dreams, its fantasies. No more. It’s over. It supplies the world with its nightmares now: the Kennedy assassination, Watergate, Vietnam.” The outlook on this dream has changed over the years it has existed, most societies nowadays look onto this as a “curse” or something worse. This dream now is speculated as hurting our home, America. As Steinbeck wrote Of Mice and Men, the grave story of the American Dream was revealed by main characters, George, Lennie, and Candy. These main characters give us an inside look into what they think the American Dream is.

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.

Do dreams come true if you work effortful for it? If you said yes think again because Steinbeck’s theme of the ‘American Dream’ in Of Mice and Men displays the real truth. Immigrants and Americans alike assume in American that if you work hard enough you will be rewarded. If you’re lucky then you might get the dream, on the other hand not so much for others. Almost every character has a dream or wish they yearn, but never achieved it for various of obstacles in their path. In other words: George, Lennie, and Curley’s wife form perfect examples of the ‘American Dream’.

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

Ever since the beginning of the twentieth century America has fascinated people from all over the world to move and to begin a new life. For many people living in America was a chance for a better opportunity and experiencing new things. They all had something in common and that is a dream. In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Lenny and George spent their lives migrating from one farm to another in order to obtain a stable life. They have no family and have an unsuccessful past; they try to see and reach their opportunities for a better life out there and believe that it can be done over hard work. Unfortunately, George and Lenny don’t accomplish their version of the dream; but with this journey the audience learns that a better life

"The American Dream is that any man or woman, despite of his or her background, can change their circumstances and rise as high as they are willing to work” (Fabrizio Moreira). For many years, men and women struggled to achieve the idealistic life of living on independent terms. Many characters in Of Mice and Men work in order to pursue and achieve the American Dream that consisted of having their own house and income. Characters in the book may use that dream to help the overcome their life struggles and personal problems. Of Mice and Men tells the story of two friends, George and Lennie, who find themselves on a ranch in pursuit of their dreams. Unfortunately for them, circumstances beyond their control cost Lennie and George their dream and much more. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck portrays how dreams create a false sense of hope in order to cover up the realities of life through George, Curley’s wife, and Candy.

Most of the characters in Of Mice and Men admit, at one point or another, to dreaming of a different life. For example, before Curley’s wife death, she confesses her desire to be a movie star. Also, Crooks allows himself the pleasant fantasy of hoeing a patch of garden on Lennie’s farm one day, and Candy latches on desperately to George’s vision of owning a couple of acres. Before the action of the story begins, circumstances have robbed most of the characters of these wishes. Curley’s wife, for instance, she has resigned herself to an unfulfilling marriage. What makes all of these dreams typically American is that the dreamers wish for untarnished happiness and the freedom to follow their own desires.

This short novel ‘of mice and men’ was first published in 1937, the author who wrote this book about the American dream was John Steinbeck. Steinbeck used different types of techniques to send a message, which includes foreshadowing to give us the readers an idea of what’s going to happen. He also uses motifs, dialogue and characterization to get the message out. The message that Steinbeck is sending is that without a friend or someone special in your life, you wont be happy and that companionship is an important part of life but also an important part of the American dream. Steinbeck beliefs about ‘the dream’ is that the dream gives us faith, and a purpose and he believes that is the dream is not achievable then the faith is misplaced, and then our purpose is pointless, the dream can also be difficult to achieve because not everyone’s dreams come true.

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.