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Comparing The American Dream In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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Throughout the story “Of Mice and Men” author John Steinbeck repeatedly portrayed the strange ways of how each and every one of the characters dealt with their personal challenges in order to live their dream life. Characters that were heavily focused on by Steinbeck were Lennie and George. The characters are the symbols for what obstacles lies behind the American Dream. What became the end product for most readers when looking upon the four of these characters was the idea of change. That without change and independence, American Dream may never become a possibility for those who desire it. The thing with George is that most readers would see him as someone who possesses a very dramatic and an unstable relationship with Lennie. This type of assumption …show more content…

And the belief has been further ingrained into readers mind when the confession when George had made to Slim, stating that “[Lennie] damn near drowned before [they] could get him” and soon after, assured Slim the promise he had made to never abuse George again. This incident is pretty significant, for most readers, it would suggest that George was actually capable of changing who he was for the better. But why would George change himself for a person like Lennie when he could have stayed the same? Well, actually it's because of the fact that George felt guilty for pushing Lennie’s innocence to edge nearly killing him. George had proven his independence, responsibility, and his new-found-kindness for Lennie to readers during this scene. All of this relates back to the main theme of independence and change. So why did George not get his dream farm by the end of the book even though he had the qualities to do so? Well a one idea for why would be because he was never destined to own it in the first place. Sure he was independent, and sure he

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