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The American Dream In Of Mice And Men

1674 Words7 Pages

Delaney Petka
Mrs. Eno
Honors English 10
1 February 2023
John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men takes place in a cruel world where the American dream seems obtainable to all characters but none are able to reach it (Abdullah,6). The loss of each one's dreams affected each character differently but negatively. Once the realization of death of their dream sets in, reality gets much worse. The experiences faced in Of Mice and Men take a toll on the charcters and emotionally destroy them (Abdullah,3). John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men portrays the characters Curley's Wife, George, and Lennie struggling with reality and are negatively affected by the downfall of their dreams.
Curley's wife is a promiscuous lady with a failed dream that lead her to a horrible …show more content…

Although, it is not only Clara that keeps them together. Their dream keeps them united, providing hope that they will remain so (Meyer,126). As Lennie's protector, he has always put his efforts into keeping him safe but still faced challenges, sometimes life-threatening ones (Saleh,3). Firstly George was forced out of Weed because he had to run away and take care of Lennie after the incident with the lady and the soft dress even though he had nothing to do with the situation at hand (Steinbeck). Ever since this situation George has held grudges against women and believes they are liars and manipulators (Meyer,128). This book shows that even with innocence comes responsibility and hardships (Kholidi,9).
The American dream is the belief that one can achieve success and virtue by working hard but in Of Mice and Men the American dream never perspires (Hochschild). Geroge has a dream to own a house and some land and settle down with Lennie and live a peaceful life never on the run (Steinbeck). George shows anxiety in fulfilling this dream continuously by acting defensively and protecting his job strongly (Kholidi,12). Sadly this dream never becomes obtainable and the consequences of realizing this dream were over were …show more content…

It seems that he is not only lying to Lennie but also to himself. He knows he is about to kill the friend he has stayed by and protected but he treats him as if nothing is going to happen and they are going to live their lives as they have done (Steinbeck). He truly loves Lennie and was forced to kill him because he was to be killed by others anyway. In a way, he spared Lennie from a gruesome hateful death (Saleh,3). Once George realized this imaginary dream is over, he took Lennie's life (Steinbeck). The reality American dream in John Steinbeck's of Mice and Men is incredibly destructive and dangerous and for the characters in this book, the American dream created events that changed their life (Kholidi,9). Lennie and George shared many endangering events together since they had not left each other's side since the death of Aunt Clara

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