An Analysis Of The Great Depression In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

The dreams and aspirations of people during the Great Depression had many different barriers. Everyone during this time had hopes of a better life, but reality would always find a way to make this incredibly difficult or impossible to achieve. The Great Depression era was difficult for everyone. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck illustrates the hardships of the Great Depression through the characters broken dreams. For example, George Milton and Lennie Small's dream is to have their own property. This is because they do not want to answer to anyone. Their dream, however, gets crushed when Lennie gets himself in trouble. Secondly, Curley's wife's dream is to be in the movies as an actress. A man once told her that she was a natural and that she could make it. Her dream was not fulfilled because she did not receive the letter from the man which would allow her to reach stardom. Furthermore, Crooks's dream of equality in a world where male white supremacy is a major belief. This dream is very difficult for Crooks to have fulfilled since he is a black minority.

Lennie's childlike mentality leads him to kill Curley's wife which then gets him marked as a murderer. George knew that it was over when they found Curley's wife's body, ' Slim turned quietly to George. 'I guess Lennie done it, all right,' he said. 'Her neck's bust. Lennie coulda did that.' George didn't answer, but he nodded slowly'(Steinbeck 47). When Lennie kills Curley's wife he makes himself a fugitive which ruins their plan on owning their own property since they still had to work to be able to buy the land they wanted. Consequently, George and Lennie's dream is not going to be achieved because Lennie kills Curley's wife and becomes an