The Impossibility of the American Dream The United States of America represents Freedom, opportunity, and wealth. America has become a nation in which immigrants from around the world have come to America to accomplish the American dream. Although many of the immigrant who have came to America have never found the American Dream. The American dream to many people is that every US citizen has an equal opportunity to become successful through hard work and determination. In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck shows how the America Dream can be impossible through inequality in an era that viewed colored people as minority, George responsibility for Lennie, and Lennie mental illness. A reason why the American dream became …show more content…
Well, this girl squawks. I was jus’ a little bit off, and I heard all the yellin’, so I comes running, an’ by that time Lennie’s so scared all he can think to do is jus’ hold on.”(Steinbeck 41). This quote explains why George and Lennie had to leave their last job in Weed. This quote shows that Lennie metal illness lead to the impossibility of the dream because after Lennie had let go of the girl, Lennie and George had to run away, leading them to start their whole life over. Another quote that shows the Lennie mental illness lead to the impossibility of the American dream is Lennie is stroking Curley wife hair an Curley wife says “You stop it now, you’ll mess it all up.” She jerked her head sideways, and Lennie’s fingers closed on her hair and hung on. “Let go,” she cried. “You let go!”… “Don’t go yellin’,” he said, and and he shook her: and her body flooped like a fish. And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck.(Steinbeck 91). This quote shows another incident of how Lennie mental illness leads him away from accomplishing the American dream. By Lennie killing Curley wife, George has to figure how to get Lennie out of trouble once again. Also during this second incident George has to make a difficult decision about what to do with Lennie. Also Kay Keough exclaims “When Lennie gets into deeper water than either of them have ever been in, it’s up to George to make a big decision to once again protect him, doing whatever he has to in the process.”(Keough) The three main factors in the novel Of Mice and Men are the inequality in the nation, the responsibility to care for the sick, and the inability to manage the sick. The inequality in the nation lead to the impossibility of the American dream by limiting the minorities to the pursue freedom, opportunity, and wealth. The responsibility of caring for the sick Vilarino