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Broken Dreams In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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Good Morning Mrs Menhert, Good morning Classmates today I will discuss my topic which was Analyse how the different characters in Of Mice and Men react to their broken dreams. Throughout the novel, several of John Steinbeck’s characters have to experience the pain of realising their dreams can in no way come true. However, due to their distinctly different personalities, their reactions are not similar, some like those of Curley and His wife are extremely emotional, while others like George's reaction, can be seen as indifferent. These varying reactions can be closely linked to the five stages of grief, each character posing as a personified version of a stage of grief as they grieve the loss of their respective dreams. George, one of the …show more content…

His behaviour and mindset following the revelation that his dream is no longer obtainable clearly indicate that George no longer believes in his dream, he has acknowledged the fact that his dream is no longer attainable. When George discovers that Lennie has killed Curley’s wife, he ignores Candy’s pleas to maintain hope that their dream can come true, rather he begins to envision himself living the life of a lonely migrant farm worker. A quote that illustrates this belief can be found on page 93 where George states “I’ll work my month an’ I’ll take my fifty bucks an’ I’ll stay all night in some lousy cat house. Or I’ll set in some pool room till ever’body goes home. An’ then I’ll come back an’ work another month an’ I’ll have fifty bucks more.” Here John Steinbeck uses repetition to make it abundantly clear to the reader that George has forsaken his dream, and chosen to become the lonely farm worker he once felt empathy towards. Although some may argue that George's reaction to the broken dream is not one of grief, but rather one of indifference, as he does not believe in the dream, this is opinion is quickly refuted when we are able to see his belief in the attainability of the dream grow as he discusses the dream with Candy and

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