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How Does Steinbeck Present The American Dream In Of Mice And Men

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American Dream of Mice and Men. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, readers are shown the American Dream through different viewpoints. These different viewpoints are given by characters who give different insight into the American Dream. These characters mentioned previously are George, Lennie, Crooks, and Curley’s wife, and they all understand and/or pursue the American Dream in different ways. Along with their understanding, they give different perspectives of the attainability of it. The setting of the novel is in California during the Great Depression, so people want to become rich and have stable wealth again. In Of Mice and Men, different characters give their own judgment about the American Dream of whether or not it is attainable. The first viewpoint …show more content…

George wants to own land and animals so he can have his own farm. On the other hand, Lennie wants to tend rabbits of all colors and maybe other animals. This is shown by Steinbeck in the book by this quote, “Sure, we'd have a little house in a room for you. 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 to work too hard. Maybe six, seven hours a day? We wouldn't have to buck barley eleven hours a day. An' when we put in a crop, why, we'd be there to take the crop up. We'd know what came of our planting”(Steinbeck 58). George and Lennie do not see any problems that they may face while trying to achieve their dream. The other viewpoint is brought up by Crooks and further explained by Curley’s wife and himself. Other than their own problems, they both feel that it isn’t possible because it is unrealistic and dreams do not come true. Crooks has never felt it was possible because he is African American and Curley’s wife never got the opportunity for her dreams at all. They feel this way because they have been on the ranch for a long time and have seen the same thing over and over. Men end up getting too confident and

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George, looks after Lennie because he has a disability and cannot take adequate care of himself. George and Lennie have a dream of having their own farm one day when they have the money to buy the land, and they talk about it numerous times in the novella, such as, “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-” (Steinbeck 1). This dream, however is far out of reach for the two men because of their social class, wealth, and because of the people that get in their way.

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The work ethic that both George and Lennie have is enough for them to eventually achieve their dream of a little farm house with rabbits, but not all of the work they do is on the ranch. George and

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Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is set during the Great Depression, a time of pursuing the great American dream. That dream was based on “the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every American.” The novel focuses on the theme of realistic dreams and not on ideal life. Each character’s life, choices, and thoughts portray the characteristics of these dreams. Characters Lennie, Crooks, George and Curley’s wife display these characteristics well.

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This relates back to Steinbeck's book because even though how much George and Lennie prepared to leave the farm and make a better life for themselves it just was not enough. When they first began working at the farm George

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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.” (Steinbeck 14) Lennie, who is a big man; that does not know his own strength, wants to be on a farm with his companion, George. He wants the farm to have different things such as a garden, pigs, cows and most of all rabbits. He likes rabbits because they are soft, so he can pet them, but big enough to not get hurt when he pets them.

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Steinbeck’s exploration of the unattainability of the American Dream is prominent in the novella “Of Mice and Men”. Set during the Great Depression, the novella shows the American Dream as an illusion, highlighting the harsh socio-economic conditions and injustices of the time. This theme is shown through the experiences of George, Lennie and other characters in the novel. Although, their dream ultimately failed, it provided them with a glimmer of hope to cope with the loneliness, isolation and societal challenges.

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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... '"

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Throughout the story, everyone explains what they want (their dreams). Lennie is always begging George to tell him about how they are going live on a farm. You can easily tell that Lennie’s life greatly relies on his dreams. ” We’ll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch and chickens.

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The misunderstanding and mistreatment the outcast characters, Lennie, Candy, and Crooks, have to endure in order to have the possibility of partaking in buying the farm, far exceeds that of all the other workers. Yet, the chance of achieving the American Dream, or in the case of Of Mice and Men, a plot of land and small farm, was a much more likely possibility for the men who fell into the norms of society. The depiction of the American Dream creates the idea that everyone stands an equal chance at being successful, but with societal roadblocks for people with mental disorders, crippling injuries, or who belong to a racial minority, there are minimal opportunities for these groups to achieve the American

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Throughout the novel, George and Lennie's dream of owning a farm motivates and inspires them. It is a symbol of possibility for them. However, the American Dream also has a negative impact on the characters. When

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In conclusion, to express that the american dream is impossible Steinbeck used conversation, conflicts, and events. Throughout of mice and men George and Lennie got into many situations where they felt scared , worried, and angry. Together the plan was to get the money to live in a small place, tend to the rabbits and alpha so they are happy. But things happen such as George killing Lennie that make the american dream impossible to achieve.

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The American Dream The American dream is the desire of all most all the characters in the novella Of Mice and Men. This is shown in many ways in many kinds of dreams whether it be becoming Rich and famous or just having the means to survive on their own each character has their own American dream. The first example of the american dream would be George 's dream. George wanted nothing more than to own his own farm and survive off of the land with Lennie which is shown in this quote “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 goin’ to work, and we’ll build up a fire in the stove and set around it an’ listen to the rain comin’ down on the roof ...”

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