The American Dream Dying

American Dream Dying Everybody has the absolute, ultimate goal of succeeding. Most people who leave everything behind and come to America come for that exact reason; they want to follow the American Dream. For Lennie and George from Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the American Dream seemed very distant and hard to reach for them but, they wouldn’t give up hope. Both characters show how the American Dream slowly came to an end through their actions.
Of the two main characters, Lennie reflected the positive characteristics of the American Dream. He shows how people still had hope of the American Dream but it ended up dying in the end. “Lennie spoke craftily, ‘Tell me – like you done before.’ ‘Tell you what?’ ‘About the rabbits.’” (Steinbeck

“Candy said, ‘I ain’t much good with on’y one hand…An’ they give me two hundred an’ fifty dollars ‘cause I los’ my hand. An’ I got fifty more saved up right in the bank, right now. Tha’s three hundred, and I got fifty more comin’ the end of the month.” (Steinbeck 59). Candy was rambling on about the money and George agreed to let him in on it. He was hesitant, but they knew he would need it. He probably knew Lennie would do something foolish that could kill him and he needed a backup plan for the farm. He didn’t want to make him survive on his own, but rather, “I want you to stay with me, Lennie. Jesus Christ, somebody’d shoot you for a coyote if you was by yourself. No, you stay with me” (Steinbeck 13). Of course, with George being the logical one, something was bound to happen.
Lennie is like the American Dream – so full of hope and wonder. George is like the harsh reality – cold and unbending. As much as George wanted to keep Lennie safe, he knew there wasn’t much else he could do so he had to kill Lennie himself. But, it was more like reality setting in on the American Dream and abolishing it. George and Lennie together taught one that you can hope all you want, but reality might come along and leave with your