ipl-logo

Common Themes In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

859 Words4 Pages

In the novella Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck, there are many themes including the American dream, isolation, prejudice, and man and the natural world. The story focuses on the journey of George and Lennie while they try and work enough to be able to afford their dream of getting a house and land to live on. They have to overcome many obstacles and they meet many people on their way. They eventually meet their tragic fate and have their dreams cut short. The theme of the American dream is developed throughout the novella and is shown by the following examples. George and Lennie have a dream to have their own land with a house, they will live off of the land by growing crops and having farm animals. In the beginning of the story their dream seems just like that, a dream. They don’t have much of a way of …show more content…

As they’re working to gather the last bit of money they need to buy their house and land, Lennie has another incident just like the one he had before. This time it ended with him accidentally killing someone. Now their dream has been taken from them. As Lennie goes and waits for George at the place they agreed to meet he’s worried that he may not get to do part of their dream. When George arrives he tells Lennie about their dream again and assures him that he can still do what he wanted to do. “We gonna get a little place… We’ll have a cow… An’ we’ll have maybe a pig an’ chickens”(Steinbeck 105). George is only serving Lennie empty words, George knows that the dream can’t be achieved so long as Lennie is with him because Lennie always finds a way to mess it up. For Lennie the dream will always stay a dream because his life ends right after George tells him about the dream one last time. For George, he still has a chance to make something out of the dream since now he may be able to keep a steady job and work long enough to make the money he

Show More
Related
508 Words | 3 Pages

Steinbeck also states how more than just Lennie and George have this dream to get a little piece of land. For instance, in the book Candy listens into George and Lennie's conversation about the house on the land and says “ I ain’t much good with on’y one hand. I lost my hand right here on this ranch. That’s why they give me a job swampin’. An’ they give me two hundred an’ fifty dollars ‘cause I los’ my hand.

Read More
844 Words | 4 Pages

George and Lennie appear to share the same dream, but it is evident that it is George’s dream. Specifically, Lennie goes along with the dream and perhaps at some point, he took ownership of the idea, but it was always George’s dream. Eventually, Lennie starts to fall in love with the dream.   Unfortunately, Lennie doesn’t know better or enough and does things that hinder the chances of George’s dream materializing.

Read More
684 Words | 3 Pages

Hex; not to be confused with curse, is actually derived from the Pensylvania Dutch word that translates into witchcraft, or those who practice witchcraft, as per Witchipedia. While a curse is meant to cause harm to another person, by accumulating quite a lot of negative energy and intent, and releasing it unto another, a Hex can be used for either good or bad purposes; let me explain. As per Colleen Criswell, a Hex is a type of manipulative magick that can be used to aid another or harm another, but the underlying ideology is that a hex is done to someone against their will (typically without their knowledge). While curses do not fall within the Wiccan tradition, as per Colleen Criswell, Hexes are permitted, however, they are to err towards

Read More
505 Words | 3 Pages

In order to be motivated Lennie constantly ask George to explain the ranch and its surrounding areas. After being told multiple times about the ranch, George and Lennie feel hope and believe that they could get the ranch. Dreams can go two ways, a good way, and a bad way. But in the novel George and Lennie’s dream went in a good because it helped them believe they could achieve it.

Read More
946 Words | 4 Pages

The dream is within George's grasp until Lennie's incident with Curley's wife. George also wishes he were alone, without Lennie. He makes it seem that Lennie is a burden and he could live a normal life without Lennie. Which of course isn't fully true. These dreams are the dreams that George shares with most migrant workers of the depression, to get settled with a beautiful ranch and live off the fatta the land, as George might say.

Read More
793 Words | 4 Pages

Lennie believes that owning a farm is George’s dream as well, but George had a different dream in mind. He wishes to live his life without being tied down, helping out Lennie and watching him to make sure nothing goes wrong. Even though George wishes to live his own life without having to worry about Lennie, he chooses to stay and watch over him because he promised Lennie’s Aunt Clara he would and finds it as the right

Read More
2005 Words | 9 Pages

Poverty was one of the main factors as to why the buying of land was just a dream as sad in chapter three when discussing about money, “‘I’ll have thirty dollars more comin’, time you guys is ready to quit’” (pg. 60). Lennie’s mental disorder was the biggest cause as to what led to the destruction of the dream, since he killed Curley’s wife, there was no way of him leaving and getting land, “George shook himself. He said woodenly, ‘If I was alone I could live so easy.’ His voice was monotonous, had no emphasis.

Read More
544 Words | 3 Pages

In this scene Lennie and george are talking by the pond and they share their dreams when he says, “We gon live of the fat of the lan” (14). This shows one of the many American dreams during the great depression that were so hard to achieve. In the middle of the book they all have dreams and share them with each other in the scene Lennie is at the farm and tells the other people there, his dream. Lennie dreams “We gonna have a house and a garden and a place for alfalfa” (89) but because of his disabilities and how nearly impossible it is for the average person he cannot but he still believes .

Read More
1163 Words | 5 Pages

George wants to do this so Lennie can die content, and so that he doesn’t have to die in fear. Lennie begs George to tell him about the dream farm, one last time. George tells him about the farm because he knows that it is what makes Lennie the happiest. When George and Lennie get done talking about the farm, Lennie wants to make sure he didn’t do something wrong, by his standards of “Will George be mad?” so he asked George.

Read More
884 Words | 4 Pages

To create what they considered the American dream they wanted to purchase their own property, living in a small house that is self-sufficient as well as a farm. Steinbeck remarks, “ we’d have our own place where we belonged and not sleep in no bunkhouse”(Steinbeck 57). The author describes, details by conveying what they are living with in the moment and how they want to change their living situation for the better. Lennie and George spoke about their future plans often and gave specific ideas towards their goals by expressing, “Sure we’d have a little house an’ a room to ourselves. Little fat iron stove, an’ in the winter we’d keep a fire going’ in it” (Steinbeck 58).

Read More
1091 Words | 5 Pages

Both Lennie and George have a similar idea of what they want for their American dream and that is to someday owning a farm. If they achieve this it would offer protection and financial care. Crooks tells them that they won’t be able to achieve their American dream and this ends up being true for them. Lennie explains their dream and says " 'Well, ' said George, 'we 'll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch and chickens. And when it rains in the winter, we 'll just say the hell with going ' to work, and we 'll build up a fire in the stove and set around it an ' listen to the rain coming ' down on the roof... '"

Read More
1312 Words | 6 Pages

Lennie and George had plans for the future and what they wanted to do in their lives: “‘O.K. Someday- we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs and-’ ‘ An live off the fatta the lan’,’ Lennie shouted” (Steinbeck 14). George can never reach his dream of living with Lennie on a couple of acres and have the stability their lives need.

Read More
993 Words | 4 Pages

The main dream Lennie and George both have is owning their own farm and farmland. Also on the farm, Lennie’s dream is to be able to tend rabbits so he could pet them. They are both clearly dreamers as stated in the novel "O.K. Someday—we're gonna get the jack together and we're gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an' a cow and some pigs and—." “Go on, George! Tell about what we’re gonna have in the garden and about the rabbits in the cages and about the rain in the winter and the stove, and how thick the cream is on the milk like you can hardly cut it.”

Read More
1260 Words | 6 Pages

Instead of John Steinbeck writing impossible futures, he gives the characters hope. George and Lennie's dream together is small, it is quiet just like them. George describes his dream, he says, “Sure, we’d have a little house an’ a room to ourself. Little fat iron stove, an’ in the winter we’d keep a fire going’ in it. It ain’t enough land so we’d have too work too hard.

Read More
478 Words | 2 Pages

Due to their failure to own a farm and live in freedom, George and Lennie often feel misery. For example, when George and Lennie have a conversation about their future plans, George states, “We’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs” (15). The shared dream of George and Lennie to own a farm is valuable and powerful to their friendship because it serves as a common hope for both. After Lennie dies as a result of

Read More

More about Common Themes In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Related Topics

Open Document