Of Mice and Men: The Death of the American Dream
Mrs. Corak
Pre-AP English 10
The Death of the American Dream The American Dream has always been one of the most prominent ideals in American society. Of Mice and Men was written by Steinbeck in 1937. It focuses on the lives of two men, Lennie and George, as they try to fulfill their own American Dream of owning a small farm. While this seems like an attainable dream in the beginning, Steinbeck chooses instead to destroy this dream utterly with the death of Lennie. Curley’s wife had an American Dream of being an actress, but she was condemned to a life on a farm with a man she doesn’t love. By destroying the American Dreams of Lennie, George, and Curley’s Wife in Of Mice and Men, prove Steinbeck believes that the American Dream is no longer an attainable goal. George and Lennie share an American Dream of owning a farm together. The audience learns of the dream when George tells Lennie about the farm: “Someday we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple and some cows and some pigs- An’ live offa the lan” (15). The farm they describe would appear to come out of a fairy tale. In this book, proves to be exactly what it is. After Lennie’s death George admits “-I think I knowed from the very first. I think I knowed we’d never do her. He usta like to hear it so much I got to thinking maybe we would” (93). In this story, Lennie believed in an American dream, and in many ways, he actually became a physical embodiment of the American Dream. As demonstrated by Lennie’s excitement and wholehearted belief that it would occur. He believed that he and George were different because they work together, exemplified in the text: “With us it ain’t like that. With us we got a future!”(15). Lennie and George possessed undying belief in the American Dream. However, through the death of Lennie, the dream of owning a farm died. This helps to prove that Lennie was a symbolic version of the American Dream. George also
Pre-AP English 10
The Death of the American Dream The American Dream has always been one of the most prominent ideals in American society. Of Mice and Men was written by Steinbeck in 1937. It focuses on the lives of two men, Lennie and George, as they try to fulfill their own American Dream of owning a small farm. While this seems like an attainable dream in the beginning, Steinbeck chooses instead to destroy this dream utterly with the death of Lennie. Curley’s wife had an American Dream of being an actress, but she was condemned to a life on a farm with a man she doesn’t love. By destroying the American Dreams of Lennie, George, and Curley’s Wife in Of Mice and Men, prove Steinbeck believes that the American Dream is no longer an attainable goal. George and Lennie share an American Dream of owning a farm together. The audience learns of the dream when George tells Lennie about the farm: “Someday we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple and some cows and some pigs- An’ live offa the lan” (15). The farm they describe would appear to come out of a fairy tale. In this book, proves to be exactly what it is. After Lennie’s death George admits “-I think I knowed from the very first. I think I knowed we’d never do her. He usta like to hear it so much I got to thinking maybe we would” (93). In this story, Lennie believed in an American dream, and in many ways, he actually became a physical embodiment of the American Dream. As demonstrated by Lennie’s excitement and wholehearted belief that it would occur. He believed that he and George were different because they work together, exemplified in the text: “With us it ain’t like that. With us we got a future!”(15). Lennie and George possessed undying belief in the American Dream. However, through the death of Lennie, the dream of owning a farm died. This helps to prove that Lennie was a symbolic version of the American Dream. George also
Cited: Steinbeck, John. “Banquet Speech.” Nobel Banquet. Stockholm,10 Dec. 1962. Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York, N.Y., U.S.A: Penguin Books, 1994. Print.