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Analyzing Themes In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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Of Mice and Men was a bestseller then and sales still remain steady today, even though it is ranked fourth most controversial book in the United States because of its vulgar profanity and derogatory statements. The writer of Of Mice and Men was John Steinbeck. He was born February 27, 1902 in Salinas, California. The novel takes place at a ranch near Soledad during the Great Depression. It deals with the issues dear to Steinbeck's heart such as poverty, homelessness, failure of the American dream, etc. The character Crook portrays many themes that are illustrated throughout the novel. The themes that are evident in Crook are discrimination, loneliness, and the American dream. The first theme portrayed in Crook is the theme of discrimination. …show more content…

In the novel, Crook says, “......if you…. guys would want a hand to work for nothing just his keep, why I'd come an’ lend a hand. I ain't so crippled I can't work like a son-of-a-bitch if I want to” (Page 38). After hearing about Lennie and George's dream, Crook started to kind of want to be apart of it. He starts to see how close they are and how real it could be to achieving the dream. It makes him believe in being able to reach the dream as well. Also in the novel, Crook states, “An’ where's George now? In town in a whore house. That's where your money's goin’. Jesus, I seen it happen too many times. I seen too many guys with land in their head. They never get none under their hand” (Page 37). Even though this qoute doesn't say anything about his dream, it does show how many times he has seen the dream and watched people try to reach it. It shows how common the American dream is even if you don't reach it, the dream still exists. Also even though Crook is denying the need or want of having a dream, it shows that without the dream you are not going anywhere in life. You will end up like Crook, a lonely crippled man stuck a ranch. Crook is not the best person to show the theme of the American dream but he still helps show its

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659 Words | 3 Pages

He reinforces his theory that the American dream is changing by the statistics on housing. “More and more people now rent their homes instead of buying; a recent study showed a decrease in home ownership from 69% in 2005 to about 66.5% in 2010 and an increase in renter household of 1.1 million”

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840 Words | 4 Pages

Archetypes are a manifestation of how our minds envision the roles of characters, these characters come in the form of the hero, villain, temptress, damsel, monster, and mentor. In the book Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, we follow the story of two men who struggle to pull through to survive horrible times, on their journey they come across other characters that fulfill the roles of the archetypes. The archetype in discussion is the villain archetype which is the evildoer of a story usually a person who commits a crime against society or against a couple of people. One character in particular that fills the archetype of the villain is Curley, he has an aura of evil that resonates from his attitude and his actions, which triggers people

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592 Words | 3 Pages

The American dream is something that we all strive for in one way or another. Whether it’s being equal to the people around you, or having freedom to be successful in whatever you want in life. But for the characters in Of Mice and Men it is the dream of owning land and being independent from everyone else. But the American Dream is not something that is given to you, it includes work ethic, knowing that the dream may be impossible and the sacrifice that may have to be made. These are all things that George and Lennie and other characters in the book have to do to eventually reach the American dream.

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964 Words | 4 Pages

In the book Crooks isn't seen much probably because for one crooks wasn't allowed to join in the different events and activities the other migrant farmers did. Crooks also caused some of the reasons for why he's anti-social. Crooks shows a reason of him wanting to be anti-social when he says,"You go on get outa my room. I ain’t wanted in the bunk house, and you ain’t wanted in my room"(34). Crooks tells Lennie that he doesn't allow anyone else in his bunk but himself.

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1053 Words | 5 Pages

How are all of these ideas connected? What is the specific argument about the dream? Nick Carraway’s motives for what he acts upon reflect his wanting to live the ‘American Dream’. First, Nick has choices and rules that he makes for himself.

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No matter how hard the pair worked, one unintentional mistake resulted in their dreams crashing down. Not to mention that their dream wasn’t even irrational; they didn’t dream to be rich or famous, just to be able to live under a roof with each other. This idea reveals to the reader that at the end of the day, a dream is just a make-believe vision and in most instances, does not come true just like how it didn’t for George and

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567 Words | 3 Pages

However, he puts up barriers again when Curley’s wife threatens him. Crooks wants to show his worth and be with George, Lennie, and Candy in the plot of land, but, after years of being alone, he does not believe himself enough to make that

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842 Words | 4 Pages

This is not exactly what F. Scott Fitzgerald believed. Fitzgerald did believe in the possibility of the dream, but he also believed that people lost sight of what the dream is. Fitzgerald is attempting to show the

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Different people view the American dream in different ways, for example some people dream of having a good job, and some people dream of having a family and being independent. However the American dream is a concept that was made during The Great Depression in the 1930’s which made it very hard to accomplish many things since people did not have jobs. In the novel Of Mice and Men the main protagonists George and Lennie have a dream “Someday-we’re gonna get the jack together we’re gonna have a little house… an’ live off the fetta of the lan’ ” (Steinbeck ,16) this shows that people at that time wanted to be independent.

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Impossible Dreams The meaning of the American Dream can be seen as ”A uniquely American vision of the country consisting of three central ideas. The American dream consists of a belief in America as the new Eden- a land of beauty, bounty, and unlimited promise; a feeling of optimism, created by ever expanding opportunity; and a confidence in the triumph of the individual.” Using this definition of the so called “American dream”, it seems to be a great representation of it at first, until you realize it includes everyone as the individual. From the beginning of the Civil war to the end of the War to End All Wars, the American Dream wasn’t possible due to the treatment of the Native Americans, the inequality between women and men, and the false promises given to the immigrants coming to our country in their time of need.

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806 Words | 4 Pages

As demonstrated in multiple scenarios, the excursion that is caused by the dream contributes to the part of the greater American story. Many Americans lack the resources and opportunities that others are naturally given, yet it is what the individual does in their specific circumstance that allows them to fulfill their own American Dream. The hardships and sacrifices that an individual goes through provides the motivation that has them continue to search for the self-gratification that stems from the American Dream. As demonstrated in Source D, the truths that we hold to be self-evident and those that provide us with Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness are shown through “a faith in simple dreams, an insistence on small miracles,” while “[participating] in the political process without fear of retribution,” (Source D). The small miracles and dreams that the people have, as well as the motivation and courage to seek out the dream embodies the entire concept that lays the foundation for the dream: hope.

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976 Words | 4 Pages

When you give just a little bit of hope to someone that miserable, you won 't believe how much their life changes. Crooks vision before listening Lennie 's plan was all black and white, but as he imagined the infinite possibilities, he suddenly could see colors. As we all know lennie 's inspiration came from george. This statement comes from page 106 “ Look down there acrost the river, like you can almost see the place.” said George to Lennie. Dreams make dead people come back to

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529 Words | 3 Pages

The Oxford Dictionary defines the “American dream” as, “the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative”. The American dream hasn’t evolved since the coining of the idea; the dream is still to have a steady job, a nice house, and a pleasant family. However, that dream does not appeal to everyone. Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild looks back upon the incredible journey of Chris McCandless. The story of a well-to-do young man who after graduating from a high-ranking university, donates all of savings to charity, burns the cash in his wallet, abandons all of his material possessions, and cuts ties with all of his family and friends to embark on his own personal odesseye in nature to carry out an adventure living in

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206 Words | 1 Pages

As my ISP novel I have chosen to read the story “Of mice and men” by John Steinbeck. I am interested in this novel because it shows the reality of life during the Great Depression and the lessons gotten from the story are still relevant in today's society. The main theme of the novel is the impossibility of achieving the American dream. I will be analyzing the story though the Marxist point of view and proving how the author uses minor characters to reveal the main message to the reader

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593 Words | 3 Pages

Firstly the fact that describing and imagining this dream calms both Lennie and George down and makes them happy says that it is something that they both find distracting in a positive way as well as motivating. Throughout John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, The American Dream seems to be needed by each prominent character in the book when we learn more about them and learn why they need the dream. In S.E Hinton’s The Outsiders, the concept of The American Dream has a purposeful presence throughout the book. The subject of “social hierarchy” (Socs .vs.

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