Dreams vs. Reality in John Steinbeck's, Of Mice and Men
Dreams vs. Reality
The world is a deadly, unforgiving and often ironic place where people become all consumed by their surroundings. There are many occasions around the world in which people only care about themselves; for example on Black Friday people get pushed, hurt or even trampled because someone is trying to get the best deals before they are all gone. People have a tendency to lose sight of their goals and dreams. Mentally, people struggle to maintain their sanity in this game of life that has no set of rules. In the book Of Mice and Men, this story portrays the inequality between people’s dreams and what can actually be accomplished. John Steinbeck, the author Of Mice and Men, utilizes his general themes of friendship and loneliness, through his deep characterization and connection between characters in order to illustrate “The American dream.” The American dream consists of the ideas of freedom, equality, and opportunity. It also means life of individual contentment and material goods as usually wanted by Americans.
At the beginning of the novel, the relationship between Candy and the old dog was very close. Candy is very passionate about his dog and spoke proudly of him. “You wouldn’t think it to look at him now, but he was the best damn sheep dog I ever seen” (Steinbeck 44). The old dog lived in the bunk house with all the workers. He slept in the same bed as Candy, but the other workers did not like the old dog because he smelled terrible. Everyone liked Candy, but they wanted to kill the dog only because he smelled bad. After they killed the dog, Candy was lonely and isolated himself from the other workers. Candy’s American dream was not met because the old dog was killed by the fellow ranchers. The old dog gave Candy unconditional love. When the old dog died, Candy’s dream died too. He wanted to live with the dog forever, his source of companionship and love was gone. In the novel, George and Lennie share the strongest bond. When George is
The world is a deadly, unforgiving and often ironic place where people become all consumed by their surroundings. There are many occasions around the world in which people only care about themselves; for example on Black Friday people get pushed, hurt or even trampled because someone is trying to get the best deals before they are all gone. People have a tendency to lose sight of their goals and dreams. Mentally, people struggle to maintain their sanity in this game of life that has no set of rules. In the book Of Mice and Men, this story portrays the inequality between people’s dreams and what can actually be accomplished. John Steinbeck, the author Of Mice and Men, utilizes his general themes of friendship and loneliness, through his deep characterization and connection between characters in order to illustrate “The American dream.” The American dream consists of the ideas of freedom, equality, and opportunity. It also means life of individual contentment and material goods as usually wanted by Americans.
At the beginning of the novel, the relationship between Candy and the old dog was very close. Candy is very passionate about his dog and spoke proudly of him. “You wouldn’t think it to look at him now, but he was the best damn sheep dog I ever seen” (Steinbeck 44). The old dog lived in the bunk house with all the workers. He slept in the same bed as Candy, but the other workers did not like the old dog because he smelled terrible. Everyone liked Candy, but they wanted to kill the dog only because he smelled bad. After they killed the dog, Candy was lonely and isolated himself from the other workers. Candy’s American dream was not met because the old dog was killed by the fellow ranchers. The old dog gave Candy unconditional love. When the old dog died, Candy’s dream died too. He wanted to live with the dog forever, his source of companionship and love was gone. In the novel, George and Lennie share the strongest bond. When George is