Explain how the idea of the American Dream is explored in ‘Of Mice and Men’. In this esaay I am going to explore how the ideas of the American dream is explored in ‘Of Mice and Men’ The title, Of Mice and Men, came from the saying “The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray and leave us nothing but pain for what might have been”. This is such a well-chosen name for the novel because it explains the factors leading to the characters’ dreams. The novel was written during the Great Depression of 1930 in the USA. It tells the tragic story of George and Lennie, two displaced Anglo itinerant farm workers in California during the Great Depression (1929-1939).
This is why the relationship is seen as very rare because of the dependency and how they were uncommonly united by their shared dream of a better life on a farm, where they can “live off the fatta the lan” as Lennie puts it. George articulates this vision by repeatedly telling the ‘story’ of the future farm to his companion; Lennie who believes unquestioningly in their dream and his faith enables George to imagine the possibility of this dream becoming reality. However, George’s belief in it depends upon Lennie, for as soon as Lennie dies, George’s hopes for a brighter future
John Steinbeck makes it clear that each character has their own dream and they all would rather be living their dream than living and working on a farm. Steinbeck uses the characters Crooks, Curley’s wife, and Candy to demonstrate the necessity to have a dream for one’s life. Crook’s shows that it is necessary to have a dream for one’s life by explaining that all he wants out of life is to be accepted. He does not want to be judged by his race or color. He wants to be apart of the group and just have a good time, laugh, have fun, and just talk to people like the rest of the guys.
The American Dream for George and Lennie is that they could have everything they wanted that was made by them and the dream was based on independence and freedom. It was the concept that they were able being their own boss and live on your own terms. The quote “live off the fat of the land” summarises the idea of being able to take whatever you made of the Earth. The word “fat” emphasises the idea that the land gives them so many precious things that they could simply live off. However this dream is somewhat crushed after Lennie’s death.
In the book George and Lennie work on the “Tyler Ranch” in the Salinas Valley, keeping going through the monotonous life with the old-fashioned and misleading “American Dream”. The book details how the dream life the two men dream of having is at times out of reach, tantalizingly close when Candy buys his way into their plans (“S’pose I went in with you guys. That’s three hundred an’ fifty bucks I’d put in...”) and how the dream is revealed to be false and snatched away at the end of the book with the death of Curley’s wife. In the 1930s the economy was in a bad way in America and most of the sought after land had been taken earlier in the history of the country. The dreams in “Of Mice and Men” are used by Steinbeck to signify characters in the book that have the potential to aspire to something better.
Steinbeck illustrates the loyalty and sacrifice between friends through the friendship of Lennie and George. The issue of loyalty is embodied in the character of George. He is an intelligent man who could make a successful living for himself on his own. He chooses to stay beside his friend Lennie. George can never get a steady job to fulfill his long-term goal of having his own farm.
Introduction “The best business you can go into you will find on your father's farm or in his workshop. If you have no family or friends to aid you, and no prospect open to you there, turn your face to the great West and there build up your home and fortune.” An excerpt from To Aspiring Young Men, 1846. This is often shortened and paraphrased to, "Go West, young man, and grow up with the country." Horace Greeley Horace Greeley can be described as a legendary editor, and very influential during his lifetime, although he had very little formal education. What he did have though, was a great vision… I would like to talk to you today about Horace Greeley.
In this story he inspired me that when the going gets tough or when you want to give up on what you really want, to always follow through. Because most of the time you will end up getting what you wanted all along. The proverb “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence” greatly reminds me of John Grady because when his grandfather died, whom he was very close with, he never gave up. His grandfather was basically a father to him. He was always there for him, they always had fun on the ranch together, and most of all they both had a special love for horses.
We are first introduced to the theme of loneliness when George is talking to Lennie about life on a ranch and how men on a ranch live compared to how they live, saying "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” Lennie eagerly finishes George’s description of them saying “But not us!
Was it a place where people feared for their lives everyday? This is how society portrays the American West. They call it the Wild West, a place where there was no law, no government, people did as they see fit. But was this the true West, or was there another side? Was it a good place to live, a place for a man and a woman to get married raise a big family and have a farm learn a trade and settle down?