The American Dream is a large theme on which the novella “Of Mice and Men” is based on. Each character strives to achieve their own dream, and some without realising. Dreams are very important in the novella, because without them nobody has anything to work towards and to motivate them in life. Lennie’s dream is probably brought up most throughout the novella, out of all the dreams. Lennie’s dream is to get ‘the fatta the lan” with a small place and rabbits. Lennie spends his whole life imagining the better life he could have, because of Lennie’s bad memory it’s constantly brought up and we are reminded of it.
Sadly Lennie’s dream is never achieved. People always assume that George’s dream is the same as Lennie’s, but nowhere in the novella does George actually mention they share the same dream. Whenever George is telling Lennie what they’ll do he uses the pronoun ‘we’ so it’s unclear whether George has the same dream as Lennie or if he’s just saying it to keep Lennie satisfied. Crooks is a very isolated character in the novella. As he is black and the only coloured man in Soledad he is discriminated against. Although he was born in California, the other men on the ranch still call him a ‘Niger’ and a ‘Negro’.
He has to live in a separate room to the bunk house and is not allowed in there to socialise or play cards because the other men, ‘they say I [he] stinks” As Crooks has been isolated and treated so badly for so long he no longer accepts charity and turns away people who try to care and talk to him. He also no longer believes in wishes or dreams and tells Lennie ” Ever’body wants a little piece of lan’… and nobody gets no land” which proves his disbelief in the reality of dreams. Although Crooks lets himself slip at one point and admits he could imagine him pleasantly hoeing a patch of garden on Lennie’s farm one day.
The Essay on Living the American Dream: Of Mice and Men
What is the American Dream? There are a myriad of aspects to it, but one general idea: the ideal life. It is making a lot of money, being respected, and triumphing difficult situations. In the book Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, Lennie and George’s dream is to live on a ranch of their own. But through these difficult times will their hard work pay off? In his novel, Of Mice and Men, ...
Curley’s wife is the only character to have had her dream vaguely accessible at one point. However she missed the opportunity and we find out later in the novella she deeply regrets not trying harder for it. When she was younger she met a guy who was involved with Hollywood but she never received the letter she was promised from him and she believed her mother had stolen it. Instead she ended up leading a miserable life with an unsuccessful marriage. It is never clear whether Curley has a direct dream he’s aiming for but by using our inference and deduction skills we can assume alot of things that could be Curley’s American dream.
In one instance, Curley is always very protective over his wife and doesn’t like her straying too far away from him. The other men on the ranch joke saying “He spends half his time lookin’ for her [Curley’s wife] , and the rest of the time she’s lookin’ for him [Curley]”. This could be from a previous experiences, he could’ve had a previous wife who left him for another man. We will never know why Curley is so protective but one point we do know is that part of his dream might be to have a loyal wife, who is faithful, and never chats to other men.
Candy is also a very isolated person in the novella, along with many other characters. Candy is the oldest man on the ranch and the only close companion he really had was his dog, who he ended up letting Carlson shoot. When Lennie and Crooks are talking about the dream land with a little place, Candy latches himself onto Lennie’s dream to have a couple of acres of land and ” a dog an’ rabbits an’ chickens. We’re [George, Lennie and Candy] gonna have green corn an’ maybe a cow or a goat” Although almost every character has their own American dream not one of them achieve it, which proves Crook’s point “It’s jus’ in their head”.
The Essay on Dreams On Of Mice And Men
... death of Curley's wife, George cancels the partnership with Candy that could have made the dream a reality, because George needed Lennie as a ... (Steinbeck 120). the migration of thousands of jobless and dispossessed Americans from the Dust Bowl states to the so-called promised ... this perception further, nothing that"the world of Of Mice ans men is a fallen one, inhabited by sons of Cain, forever ...
The American dream is not correct in this case because it says anything is attainable through hard work and all people can succeed through hard work, which isn’t true because Lennie, George and many of the other ranch workers have worked their whole lives to try and make enough money to get their own little place, but no one does. This shows she impossibility of the American Dream in a world with not enough freedom and contentment but too much inequality and unfairness. By Maisie Tang U4S
