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John Steinbeck's Obstacles

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Is the American Dream impossible or does it just take time to find? In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck’s characters have many goals that they wish to achieve. The main characters, George and Lennie, want to own farmland and animals, and their own home. Obstacles come along throughout the novel that create great difficulties for the characters to reach their lifelong goals. Steinbeck’s perspective of the American Dream is that it is more of an idea than it is a realistic goal that can be reached, and he develops this theme through characters, settings and symbols in the novel. The American Dream is what makes the United States of America the place to pursue one’s life goals. This concept has been around for centuries. Someone …show more content…

The characters throughout the novel are trying to work towards their goals. They keep the great idea of their dreams as motivation, but do they ever reach those goals? Steinbeck’s main character Lennie never reaches his dream,; he only has it as an idea to hold. Lennie gets himself in trouble towards the end of the novel. George finds Lennie by the riverside, George tells Lennie to look at the river and get on his knees as he takes out a gun and aimes it at Lennie’s head. Lennie does not know what was going to happen and George does not want him to know so he begins to talk about their dream, “Lennie begged ‘Le’s do it now. Le’s get the place now.’… George raised the gun and steadied… He pulled the trigger.” (Steinbeck 106). The concept of the American Dream is not something that is proven to come true. It is expressed as a movement, plan, or vision. It seems more like something people hold onto to keep their humanity. Lisa M. Weah tells her dream in “American Dreams” from The New York Times. “I dream of an America which embodies its own declaration.” (Brown 2). Like Lennie and many others Weah has not yet reached her goal, if it is even something she could reach on her own. Her American Dream is such a large dream, it would be a giant movement for the United States. Since it is such a large journey our reach to her goal, it seems like more of an idea. It is obviously a want for her, like a dream is for anyone, but is it a want that she can have? It is sad to realize that the American Dream is less a reality and moreso a

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Steinbeck additionally displays the american dream and motivation by showing how George kills Lennie at the end. For example, when George found Lennie by the river and was going to kill Lennie they stated “Go on,” said Lennie. “How’s it gonna be. We gonna get a little place.” “Well have a cow,” said George.

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After Slim questions whether their friendship is strong enough to withhold their huge plan, George immediately says, “He ain’t no cuckoo. He’s dumb as hell, but he aint crazy. An’ I aint so bright neither, or I wouldn't be buckin’ barley for my fifty and found. If I was bright, if I was even a little bit smart, Id have my own little place, an’ Id be bringin’ in my own crops, ‘stead of doin’ all the work and not getting what comes up outta the ground.” (Steinbeck 39) This doubt and reassurance of Lennie and George’s dream foreshadows Lennie’s death because Lennie doesn't actually make it to the ranch due to Geore shooting

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In the book, George and Lennie are talking about getting their dreams. The first example of this was when George and Lennie`s staying in the brush before going to get their jobs at the farm. Lennie is asking George to tell him the dream

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George Milton and Lennie Small’s dream is of owning a small plot of land where they can retire and live independently. Their dream dies when George shoots Lennie in the head to save him from a worse fate. Poverty, prejudice, and fate conspire against George and Lennie. The impossibility of achieving their dream is Steinbeck’s way of showing us that society holds us back.

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The American Dream is only attainable to those who are privileged and considered truly American. Though many immigrants believe that they can grasp the American Dream, it is always out of reach and can never be achieved. The American Dream can never be accomplished through working hard and determination. Often, people chase the American Dream with high expectations for a new life, and they are often disappointed when failure strikes. Because of this, many of the characters in Of Mice and Men struggle to achieve the dreams they’ve been longing for.

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Dreams, no matter how big or small, are important to individuals, as they provide motivation to achieve and chase their goals. In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck explores the importance of dreams, and how they help individuals overcome hardship. Implicit in his novel is that idea that for most, the American Dream is impossible, and although individuals try desperately to pursue their goals, friendships and dreams are shattered. George and Lennie are two of the main characters in Of Mice and Men who want the American Dream, but their dreams are never achieved due to Lennie's inability to stay out of trouble. George’s dream was to own his own farm with a vegetable patch, a river with salmon to cook smoked salmon, chickens, cows to make dairy, a little house with a room to themselves and rabbits.

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The American dream is a term used in a lot of ways. Although research has shown that American dream can’t be attainable by most people, closer examination shows that it can be attainable by the following reasons. As Daniel J. Mitchell stated in New York Times im January 1st, 2015 “The United States is not a perfect country, but the American Dream is still a reality.” By that he meant that even with America’s Grow rate, poverty, unemployment rate in the past years and still going Americans can still chase their American dreams If we look at the history and the definition it shows that infact it is possible to attain it.

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The American Dream is Attainable Dreaming of success, a bright future, or even hope? An idea placed in the Declaration of Independence, The American Dream has been a beacon of hope to many; however, does The American Dream really exist? Some can and will argue that it’s dead, and that it isn’t achievable. I believe it’s alive, but it has to be realistic. By being realistic, anything could be possible, but only with the amount of effort put forth.

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What is the American Dream? To answer this question, we must first define what the American Dream means. Among many great historians, James Adams in 1931 defined the American Dream accurately, “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer for everyone, with opportunity for each, according to ability or achievement…and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of back ground (does it have a space?) and birth position” (433). The definition of the American Dream (what dictionary or remove. It is a little cheesy) states all Americans should have equal opportunity, in which their skills.

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I can go away any time’” (Steinbeck 12). Lennie knows how much trouble he can be and therefore offered to leave George. But of course, George, being a moral and normal person, is worried about Lennie. “George said, ‘I want you to stay with me, Lennie.

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The American dream is a fantasy dreamed by the lowest in society. It is a myth that gives false hope to the people who are willing to dream for it. To believe that someone can rise from nothing into a life of luxury is like dreaming to win lottery, it is not realistic. There will always be people who achieve that dream, but they are one in a million. That is why the American dream is a myth.

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People also have this image of the American dream as a white Pickett fence, a dog, and two children with a nice house and two cars in the driveway nice job and a stay at home wife, when that is not what it is at all. When people talk about how they want that when they get to America they will get disappointed because what they pictured and wanted America to be and what the media paints it to be is not what it is. Sometimes it feels like the media takes over the American dream more and more and it becomes more materialistic every day. For the Americans that live here it becomes even more harder to achieve because the pricing of housing is only getting higher and seems like the paychecks are just enough anymore. It feels like once you feel like you got it in your hands it then

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“-I think I knowed from the very first. I think I knowed we’d never do her. He usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would” (Steinbeck 78). George wanted a better life someday for himself and for Lennie, but deep down he knew Lennie’s limitations and accepted that the dream was never meant to be.

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Lastly Curley's wife is shown as a typical pretty woman who yearns to be a famous movie star. Steinbeck uses each of these layered characters to depict the theme of the American Dream. The first instance in the book where the unrealized dream is depicted is when Lennie and George are in the brush after coming from the previous ranch. They are fairly poor so they need to keep finding new jobs on various ranches.

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The American dream is something that needs to be preserved for generations to

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