Of Mice and Men: The American Dream and fate Have you ever had a dream and realized that it would not happen? In the book Of Mice and Men. John Steinbeck tries to teach us through Candy that the American Dream is the desire to belong, to be wanted, and to be understood, but when reality checks in and you are hit with fate, something that unavoidably befalls a person; fortune (dictionary.com). And realize it’s nothing more than a dream. The American Dream to Candy is a nice idea, a hope for a better future a better way of life. Candy gets hope when he overhears George and Lennie talking about how they “could live offa the fatta the lan’.”(29). Steinbeck says “Candy went on excitedly, “How much they want for a place like that?” ” (29) Candy is excited! There was a future for him so he isn’t just a nuisance that everyone wants to shoot off and be rid of. “Candy sat on the edge of his bunk. He scratched the stump of his wrist nervously “I got hurt four year ago,” he said. “They’ll can me purty soon. Jus’ as soon as I can’t swamp out no “He looked helplessly back at Curley’s wife, and gradually his sorrow and his anger grew into words. “You G** d*** tramp”, he said viciously. “You done it, di’n’t you? I s’pose you’re glad. Ever’body knowed you’d mess things up. You wasn’t no good. You ain’t no good now, you lousy tart.” He sniveled, and his voice shook. “I could of hoed in the garden and washed dishes for them guys.” He paused, and then went on in a singsong. And he repeated the old words: “If they was a circus or a baseball game . . . . we would of went to her . . . . jus’ said ‘ta h*** with work,’ an’ went to her. Never ast nobody’s say so. An’ they’d of been a pig and chickens . . . . an’ in the winter . . . . the little fat stove . . . . an’ the rain comin’ . . . . an’ us jes’ settin’ there.” His eyes blinded with tears and he turned and went weakly out of the barn, and he rubbed his bristly whiskers with his wrist stump.”
As we journey through life, we must make difficult decisions, even when few options exist and the situation is grim. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the decision George faces after Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife is complicated, as none of his choices are good. The importance of his relationship with Lennie forces George to look at the big picture and act in Lennie’s best interests, even though the action he must finally take will result in a weight that he will carry forever.
In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck portrays dreams as being unattainable. Most of the characters in the book want to have something of their own to be happy but most of their dreams are never fulfilled because of different factors. Even Crooks the stable buck knew that dreams are never really attainable. After lennie tells crooks about the land crooks says “Ever’body wants a little piece of lan’... and nobody gets no land”(pg 74). Crooks who as seen many men with the same dreams as george knew it was never really attainable.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck follows the life of two men trying to achieve the American Dream. A recurring circumstance that affects many of the characters in this historical fiction novella is injury. One of these characters impacted by an injury is Candy. Candy’s injury demonstrates his decreasing chances of living the American Dream as time goes on through its location, cause, and permanence.
There was a heavy rain outside, but other than that, the room was silent. George stared at the bunk where Lennie slept, unable to sleep. He was filled with hatred of the world that forced him to kill his own friend. As the night dragged on his hatred shifted to Curley’s wife, then Curley. “If Curley hadn’t let his tramp wife go around and cause trouble Lennie would still be here” George thought. Just then, Lennie appeared in front of him with a look of deep sadness and pain. Seeing Lennie’s pain and suffering, sent him over the edge. “That god damn Curley!” George thought, grabbing Carlson’s gun while he slept. “This is all his fault!” he thought, consumed by rage. He shuffled over to where Curley slept and pulled out the gun. George aimed the gun at Curley and pulled the trigger. An instant later he is horrified by what he has done. A couple seconds pass and Slim comes into the
Dreams give people motivation and a sense of hope to not give up when life's hard conditions get in the way of success. In the novella, Of Mice and Men, George Milton has his own “American Dream” where he will live in a house, that he bought with his hard earned money, with Lennie. They will grow their own crops and own farm animals to feed themselves. This dream keeps George motivated to find new jobs when Lennie gets them into trouble. George does not want to give up on working hard and making money on ranches.
In Of Mice and Men one of the main themes is the idea of the american dream. This is one of the more important themes in the book because it plays such a big role in how each character pursued life, and their dreams show a different side of who they are and what they want from life. Many of the characters talk about what their version of the american dream is. Curley’s wife talks about how she wanted to be a movie star. Candy and George both want to own their own land. Crooks dream is to work in lennie's garden. However it remains only a dream for them and they are awaken by the fact that they can't have the perfect american dream. Another way that this idea is used in the book and by characters is that Lennie and George keep faithful
Crooks is an African American stable-hand on the ranch, who because he is black is very isolated and lonely. He is the only black man on the ranch and is segregated from the others on multiple occasions. All Crooks wants is to be able to do daily activities with the other ranch workers, even simply a game of cards. However, since Crooks is black, he is not allowed into the bunkhouse, and is forced to live alone in the barn. He wants to feel like someone cares about him, "Don't make no difference who the guy is, long’s he's with you. I tell you, a guy gets too lonely an' he gets sick." (80) Lennie finds Crooks one night in his room when he is playing with the new puppies on the ranch. After Crooks tries to play a joke on Lennie, Crooks realizes that Lennie is slow and thinks like a child, therefore can’t understand that he is just playing a joke on him. Crooks then invites Lennie to stay with him for a while, and forgets about his loneliness for one night. Crooks looks to Lennie for companionship; he sees that si...
George is almost certain is will happen, as he wishes for 'a little house' with a 'few acres' of land to grow their own food. This is also important as it shows that in 1930s America, the main goal was to achieve stability, to be able to rely on yourself and not be worried about getting 'canned' everyday and to live, not only survive on the bare minimum. However, even George's simple dreams seem incredibly unrealistic and Crooks sums this up the best as he says 'nobody never gets to heaven and nobody never gets no land' which shows how many people attempted to acheive the same thing, to achieve stability, however no one ever did. At the end of the novel, George's dream comes to an abrupt stop as he has to kill Lennie. These final moments show how short life in 1930s America was, and how unfair situations were. Even though Candy still offered to give George his savings, George chose the solitude life of a ranch worker as Lennie was part of his dream, and how he couldn't even seem to reconsider living the American dream without him shows the reader how much Lennie meant to him.
George and Lennie have a dream, even before they arrive at their new job on the ranch, to make enough money to live “off the fatta the land” and be their own bosses. Lennie will then be permitted to tend the rabbits. Candy, upon hearing about the dream, wants to join them so that he will not be left alone, especially after they killed his dog. From the 17th Century, when the first settlers arrived, immigrants dreamed of a better life in America. People went there to escape from persecution or poverty, and to make a new life for themselves.
Candy didn't have anything so he wanted grow old on the ranch with George and Lennie (pg59-60) but then Lennie kills Curly's Wife and his dream dies (pg.94). Candy's dreams end in a pessimistic outlook because all he wanted got destroyed leaving him with nothing. Crooks dream was to be respected and not looked at for his color and wanted to live on the ranch with Curly Lennie and George (pg.64). Even though he wanted this he noticed by what Curly's wife said to him that his dream will never be achieved, so he changes his mind (pg.
Conflict, by definition, is a back and forth struggle between two opposing forces. In the literary work, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, it is clear, the protagonist, George Milton, undergoes many conflicts that lead to the novel’s overall purpose. Steinbeck weaves together George’s conflicts with others, himself, and with society to illustrate what the true meaning of friendship is.
The American Dream has been the ideal way of life to every citizen. Equal opportunity to achieve success through hard work and persistence allows people to strive for The American Dream. For others, The Dream might have a different meaning to what the think is achievable. In the essay, “Is the American Dream even possible” John Steinbeck makes accusations about the American Dream and the credibility of it. The American Dream in Steinbeck's perspective is that in reality, The Dream is there to believe but not there to its full potential.
In Of Mice and Men, it seems an incontrovertible law of nature that dreams should go unfulfilled. From George and Lennie’s ranch to Curley’s wife’s stardom, the characters’ most cherished aspirations repeatedly fail to materialize. However, the fact that they do dream—often long after the possibility of realizing those dreams has vanished—suggests that dreaming serves a purpose in their lives. What the characters ultimately fail to see is that, in Steinbeck’s harsh world, dreams are not only a source of happiness but a source of misery as well.
In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses stereotypes and discrimination to convey a message of how the characters feel. A lot of the stereotypes and clichés are just common beliefs of the times, but a few are situational. To quote a quite distinguished reader, "Characters are ‘trapped’- either by what others think of them, or by their situation." A lot of the character’s feelings about themselves and what others think of them will lead to loneliness.
Candy dealt with his loneliness by being friendly with George and Lennie and becoming a partner in obtaining the small ranch that was George and Lennie’s dream. Candy kind of an outcast because of his age difference from other ranch hands. “I could cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some”(Candy 319). Candy attempts to be useful in someone else life. He heard that George and Lennie have this dream to “live off the fat of the land” as soon as they get enough money. Candy wanted to join, he offered as much as he can. He wanted to join the dream but not only did he want to join, he wanted to join the friendship of George and Lennie. “Maybe I can give you guys money”(Candy 325). Candy offered his money that he gets from the government for his disability. An exchange for money Candy gets a friendship out of it. So he is paying George and Lennie to be friends with him really. I think money will never buy a real friendship. Not only was Candy lonely and miserable trying to deal with loneliness, but so was Crooks...