Dreams In Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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The Impact of Dreams Having a dream to work towards alongside someone can greatly impact a relationship. George and Lennie, from John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, are two ranch workers who are always moving in search for a job during the Great Depression. The dream that they both share is what makes their dream worth pursuing, but along the way Lennie’s tendency of getting in trouble poses obstacles. Similarly, Jing Mei and Suyuan, characters from Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, work towards a dream of Jing Mei becoming a prodigy. The mom, Suyuan, and the daughter, Jing Mei, at first pushed to pursue the dream, but it slowly drives wedge between their relationship. A hope for a better future is a result that Lennie, George, Jing Mei and Suyuan …show more content…

Suyuan’s dream for her daughter was for her to become a prodigy, in hopes for a better future. The mother believed “ you could be anything you wanted to be in America” (Amy Tan). Her mother had come to America after losing everything in China, and hard times lied ahead for herself and her daughter, The daughter and mother set out to pursue the dream together in hopes of a better life. Her mother first thought Jing Mei could be a “chinese shirley temple”, in which they would “watch Shirley’s old movies on TV as though they were training films” (Amy Tan). The idea of becoming something greater than herself at first encouraged Jing Mei to practice her Mother’s ideas. Both the mother and daughter put in work towards the dream together, because both desired for the dream to positively impact their lives. Jing mei was intrigued by the idea of becoming famous at first, and says she “was just excited as her mother”, and even “pictured part of her as many different images and tried each one one on for different images” (Amy Tan). Jing Mei was clearly on board with the whole process of becoming a prodigy and it brought her and her mother’s relationship closer. The aspiration of Jing Mei becoming a prodigy pushed her mother and her to work together towards a specific goal, in which they both had their mindset to. George and Lennie, as well as Suyuan and Jing Mei faced