Inequality In Of Mice And Men And In Cold Blood

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Inequality in the Presence of the Dream
Inequality is as dear to the American heart as liberty itself. - William Dean Howells
This quote holds true for both works of Of Mice and Men and In Cold Blood. Of Mice and Men is novella written by American author John Steinbeck. Of Mice and Men is a tragic fiction that takes place in the 1930s in Soledad, California. The story follows two migrant workers George Milton and Lennie Smalls and their quest to make a living during the 1930’s Great Depression. The next novel In Cold Blood is a true crime novel written by Truman Capote. The novel tells of the murder of the four members of the Clutter family and the killers who did it. Capote reconstructs the murder, the capture, the trial, and the execution of the killers. Though both novels tell of tragedy and despair, Capote and Steinbeck still have an underlying message. Both novels speak of the faultiness of the American dream. Therefore, the literary works Of Mice and Men and In Cold Blood both argue the American dream is a dream that many hope to achieve and very few accomplish due to the enormous amount of inequality; however, John Steinbeck of Of Mice and Men does a more effective job of arguing this theme.
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Steinbeck proves this point through the description of his characters. Steinbeck, in the beginning of the novel, focuses on Lennie. Lennie is one of the main characters of the novel and is often picked because he is mentally disabled. On page 62, Lennie is seen being bullied by another rancher who dislikes Lennie for no apparent reason (Steinbeck). Lennie is working at the ranch to hopefully make a better living for himself, but he is beaten brutally. Steinbeck uses Lennie, a mentally disabled person, to show that no matter who a person is, there are always going to be societal obstacles along the way stopping a person from pursuing their

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