ipl-logo

The American Dream In Of Mice And Men By John Steinbeck

1127 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Development of the american dream

As America was gaining footing in the world, its leaders founded the new county on the belief that all people are created equal. They built America upon the hope that anyone could reach their full potential and success regardless of circumstances. In this modern world, people still hold this belief to be evident. Although some may suggest that the American Dream is attainable for everyone, they fail to recognize wealth inequality, stagnant social values, racism, and the fact that some dreams will not be achieved due to outside forces. It is frequently argued that the American Dream is up to the believer. The belief stems from the ideology that anyone can become or do anything, but throughout life, that cannot always be the plan. A person could …show more content…

Author John Steinbeck remarkably demonstrates this issue in his fictional book Of Mice and Men. Steinbeck introduces the audience to a pair of traveling farmhands from the 1940s, George and Lenny. The friends dream of being free to work for themselves and own their farm together. After a series of unfortunate events, George was forced to take Lenny’s life. When George took his life, he looked down, “Lenny jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand and he lay without quivering. Gorge shivered and looked at the gun, and then he threw it from him, back up on the bank near the pile of old ashes'' (Steinbeck.) Alongside Lenny’s death was the death of their dream to share a life. George could never go back or change the situation. It makes people realize life is cruel and that no matter how hard a person works to accomplish a dream, sometimes it cannot be done. Today many Americans face the same fate of being forced into poor positions. As a result of similar …show more content…

People hate to acknowledge that in today’s world, racism still exists and can be an uncomfortable topic to address. Some turn a blind eye to it, while others have to face discrimination each day. LaShyra, a college student, shared her insight as to what the American dream means to her and the reality some black people meet. She explained, “While I wish I could believe in the Constitution and the illustrious “American Dream,” my experiences as a Black woman are poignant reminders that such luxuries were and continue to be reserved for a select few”(Nolen.) LaShyra points out the past that America was built upon and how it has continued to affect life many years later. The past was not designed for people of color due to that, it hinders people’s dreams from coming true and had lasting effects. Some black people have been simply denied to pursue their dreams because they “were not good enough” or they did not deserve to. For countless generations, they had to fight for the same rights as their peers. Within the same breath, the Declaration of Independence discusses that all men are created equal and have unalienable rights like Liberty, Life, and the Pursuit of Happiness (Declaration of Independence.) This statement was hypocritical to an entire race then and even now to some black people like LaShyra. The declaration of independence is believed to be the beginning of

Show More
Related
666 Words | 3 Pages

The novel Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck is a gripping tale of two men and their lives during the Great Depression. George Milton and Lennie Small are two migrant workers who travel together finding work. They take on a new job “bucking barley” at a ranch in central California for the ranch owner and his son. While working at the ranch they encounter Curley the ranch owner’s son and his wife, a flirtatious woman. The story reaches a climax when Lennie unintentionally kills Curley’s wife and runs back to the Salinas River just as George instructed.

Read More
600 Words | 3 Pages

Taking someone’s life is nearly impossible to justify. In John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, George had to make a tough decision when he killed his best friend, Lennie, to save him from a more painful death. The story takes place during the Great Depression in California, and follows two unlikely friends, Lennie, a extremely strong yet mentally disabled man and, George, who is much smarter and the leader of the two. George and Lennie are migrant workers, and after losing their previous job, have come to the ranch where the story takes place to find work. After Lennie accidentally murders Curley’s wife, he runs away, and a band of the workers assemble to punish Lennie, with Curley, an aggressive and prideful character as the leader.

Read More
486 Words | 2 Pages

Sometimes death is better than living. In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, George and Lennie come to work on a farm after having to leave their old place. Curley is the ranch owner's son so all the men need to listen to him and he has a wife. Lennie has mental problems and does not know his own strength sometimes. When Curley's wife and Lennie are alone they talk together, and Lennie accidentally kills her.

Read More
658 Words | 3 Pages

Did you know that the book “ Of Mice and Men” was banned countless times because of Steinbeck's nefarious language, violence, and racism that is said in the book. The navel “Of Mice and Men” written by John Steinbeck is a story about two men named George Milton and Lennie Small that want the American dream. Everytime George and Lennie find an agreeable job Lennie tends to mess it up. George did the right thing by killing Lennie because Lennie would of suffered if he let Curly deal with him, lennie might of hurt someone else, and he wouldn’t be able to survive on his own if George let him run away.

Read More
936 Words | 4 Pages

During the Great Depression, people had to come from all over to farms in order to survive. Through this, they were unable to step out of line so as to keep their place on the ranch. John Steinbeck was able to portray this accurately in his novella Of Mice and Men, where the characters choose to stay alone. They are similar to actors in a play (McMurray) because they have an assigned role and aren’t allowed to break away. In Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck displays some fundamental issues with American society as it rarely allows those that are dealt a bad hand to increase their status.

Read More
1463 Words | 6 Pages

To what extent does Lenny represent the failures of the American dream in Of Mice and Men? Introduction: In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the American dream, the hope and desire for a better life, is a central theme, in Steinbeck’s words the novel is a “… study of the dreams and pleasures of everyone in the world.” Throughout history the notion of the American dream has presented an ethos- that any hard working person can achieve success, both financially and in the fulfillment of their life dreams and ambitions, regardless of background and initial social standing.

Read More
1091 Words | 5 Pages

American Dream American Dream has many different definitions in this day and age. For some it 's starting from little and making their way up to a successful prosperous life. For others it 's reaching happiness and a family. And for some the American dream is freedom but however the American dream is portrayed they all have something in common and that is happiness.

Read More
1801 Words | 8 Pages

The initial paragraphs of John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men introduces Lennie and George, two men living on the road, in search of a job. Both men have dreams of their own and depend on each other in order to achieve them. George takes care of Lennie, who is mentally incapable, while Lennie provides company to George. These men wander around hoping to achieve the American Dream. They continue to go after it, without realizing that they will never be able to obtain it.

Read More
947 Words | 4 Pages

“The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again. Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand, and he lay without quivering” (Steinbeck 106). Lennie’s dream was gone, and so was

Read More
1723 Words | 7 Pages

Since 1931 when James Truslow Adams first created the phrase “the American Dream”, people believed that America continuously offered everyone an equal opportunity to be successful. John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, was set during the Great Depression. Farms were struck hard during the Depression, and the two main characters George and Lennie were farm hands during this time. They had experienced the misunderstandings of other farm hands in terms of Lennie’s mental disability, but they were trying to earn enough money to buy their own farm. The idea of this farm drove Lennie and George to keep working, and like many others during this time they hoped to achieve this dream.

Read More
648 Words | 3 Pages

America is known as “The Land of Opportunity” and it established the concept of the American Dream in the 1900’s. The fight for this dream was prevalent even before it was given a name in 1930. The founding fathers wrote this belief into the constitution with the words “All Americans are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. Among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” .Some Americans believe that the American Dream can still be obtained in the 21st Century with hard work and perservance ; however, a majority of the American population among race gender and class has a different point of view on what America still provides to their citizens because economic insta8bility and lack of equal opportunity.

Read More
610 Words | 3 Pages

Of mice and men is a prominent book read by most high school students for a long time. Of mice and men is a book written by John Steinbeck. In the book George and Lennie had to run out of weed, so they looked for a ranch to work on. Lennie had issues with liking soft things that lead to him killing Curley's’ Wife and a puppy. To express that the american dream is impossible to achieve Steinbeck uses conversations, conflicts, and events.

Read More
1110 Words | 5 Pages

DJ Collins Mrs. Johnson Composition B 18 March 2024 The American Dream Created Equal or No? Is the American Dream really created equal? It should be created equally so everyone can achieve it. But it is not created equal.

Read More
441 Words | 2 Pages

“No matter how much sometimes you dare to dream, send happy thoughts into the universe, no matter what you do some of your dreams will never come true” (Unknown). In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, at the time of the Great Depression, two men, George and Lennie, venture to California in hopes to find work. Because Lennie is wanted for raping a woman, George and Lennie must escape the “law” by fleeing to the next town. Through the character of Lennie, Steinbeck shows that issues outside the control of an individual often limit the achievement of his dreams. “‘But he never hurt her.

Read More
198 Words | 1 Pages

There are a few clear differences in the liturgies that can be seen in this video. The first one being the clothes that the priests and the participants in the liturgies wear. During the Orthodox liturgy, the priest and the presiders were wearing ornate robes or suits. During the liturgy in Los Angeles, the priests wore simpler robes and the presiders were dressed pretty casually. Another difference between the two liturgies was the amount of contact with the altar that the priests had.

Read More

More about The American Dream In Of Mice And Men By John Steinbeck

Related Topics

Open Document