John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men is set during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The story follows two main characters, George and Lennie, as they travel across America in search of work. Throughout the novel, Steinbeck explores the theme of the American Dream and its failure. The American Dream is the belief that anyone can succeed in America if they work hard enough. However, Of Mice and Men shows that this dream is not always attainable.
Many of the characters in the novel are poor, uneducated, and have no real prospects for a better life. They are forced to work hard just to survive, with no hope of ever achieving their dreams. In the end, George is forced to kill his friend Lennie, illustrating the tragic reality that the American Dream is often out of reach. John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men highlights the failure of the American Dream, showing that sometimes it is nothing more than a pipe dream.
Of Mice and Men is a short story written by John Steinbeck set in the Salinas River Valley, California, during the Great Depression. It was written by John Steinbeck, who grew up near the Salinas River Valley in the 1910s. Stock markets crashed, leaving people penniless overnight. Some guys traveled from farm to farm just to acquire enough food to survive.
John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, is about the failure of the American Dream. The American Dream is “a happy way of life in which everything comes together for you.”
The book is set during the Great Depression, a time when the American Dream was hard to achieve. The characters in the book, George and Lennie, are two migrant workers who travel around looking for work. They hope to one day own their own farm, but their dream is never realized. The novel ends with Lennie accidentally killing his friend John’s wife, Curley’s wife. John then kills Lennie to prevent him from getting into trouble. In the end, George and Lennie’s dream dies along with them.
They didn’t have homes, so all they had was a backpack. In his novella Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck employs Curley’s wife, Crook, and Candy to illustrate the failure of the American Dream. To begin with, Steinbeck employs Curley’s wife to demonstrate the failure of the American Dream.
Unlike her husband, Curley’s wife is not content with what she has. For example, she tells Lennie, “I ain’t got no rights. Nobody never gives me no rights” (Steinbeck 71). Curley’s wife is always complaining about how unfair her life is and how she never gets what she wants. In addition, Steinbeck also uses Crooks to prove the failure of the American Dream.
Crooks is a black man who is not allowed to interact with the white people on the ranch. He is treated like an animal and is always living in fear. For instance, when Lennie goes into his room, Crooks says, “You got no rights comin’ in my room. I got a right to have a light” (Steinbeck 74). Crooks is always living in fear of being hurt or killed because he is different from the other ranch workers. Lastly, Steinbeck uses Candy to show the failure of the American Dream.
Candy is an old man who has lost his hand in an accident. He is no longer able to do the things he used to be able to do and is now just a burden on the ranch. For example, when Candy offers to pay George and Lennie for their dream, George says, “Candy, we ain’t gonna need your money” (Steinbeck 103). George knows that Candy is just going to be a burden on them and they don’t need his money.
In conclusion, John Steinbeck uses Curley’s wife, Crooks, and Candy to contribute to the failure of the American Dream. The American Dream is an unrealistic goal that is unattainable for most people. It is a dream that is only achievable by a select few.
Lennie is trying to hold on to a lady’s soft dress, which he has snatched. They must flee in order not to incur the wrath of the event. “And rabbits, and have rabbits,” Lennie adds. Tell me about the garden and about the rabbits in cages during rainy winter weather and how the cream is on milk like you can scarcely cut it, George says (Steinbeck 14).
From this, we see that Lennie is dreamer and he wants to have a place of their own so very badly. George is more level-headed, but he tolerates Lennie because he knows how much Lennie means to him. They are best friends and they need each other. “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place… With us it ain’t like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us” (Steinbeck 15).
From this passage, Steinbeck is trying to show how companionship is one of the most important things to people like George and Lennie. They are looking for a place to call their own and to be accepted. Unfortunately, the American Dream is not always achievable and it certainly wasn’t for these two men.
Lennie is developmentally disabled and George knows that he can never really take care of himself. He tries his best, but in the end, it is clear that Lennie cannot survive on his own. When they get to the ranch, they meet Candy, an old man who has lost his hand in an accident. He tells them about his dream of buying a piece of land with them and living there together. However, this dream is quickly dashed when Curley’s wife enters the story.
Curley was furious with Lennie and wanted to kill him, but since his companion George did it for him, it was less painful. Steinbeck utilizes Lennie to illustrate the decay of the American Dream.
Lennie is a perfect example of someone who is not able to achieve the American Dream because he is not smart enough and is not able to control himself. This shows that the American Dream is unattainable for many people. John Steinbeck was born in 1902 in Salinas, California. He was the third of four children and the only son of John Ernst Steinbeck and Olive Hamilton Steinbeck. His father was a businessman and his mother was a schoolteacher. Steinbeck grew up in a rural community and his early years were spent working on farms with migrant workers. These experiences would later be reflected in his writing.
Steinbeck went to Stanford University but he dropped out after two years without taking a degree. He then moved to New York City where he worked as a journalist and wrote short stories. Steinbeck’s first novel, Cup of Gold, was published in 1929. His second novel, The Pastures of Heaven, was published the following year. These two novels were not successful and Steinbeck returned to California. In 1935, Steinbeck published Tortilla Flat, which was his first real success.
