The American Dream - Of Mice and Men free essay sample

The American Dream is a large theme on which the novella Of Mice and Men is based on. Each character strives to achieve their own dream, and some without realising. Dreams are very important in the novella, because without them nobody has anything to work towards and to motivate them in life. Lennies dream is probably brought up most throughout the novella, out of all the dreams. Lennies dream is to get the fatta the lan with a small place and rabbits. Lennie spends his whole life imagining the better life he could have, because of Lennies bad memory its constantly brought up and we are reminded of it. Sadly Lennies dream is never achieved. People always assume that Georges dream is the same as Lennies, but nowhere in the novella does George actually mention they share the same dream. Whenever George is telling Lennie what theyll do he uses the pronoun we so its unclear whether George has the same dream as Lennie or if hes just saying it to keep Lennie satisfied. We will write a custom essay sample on The American Dream Of Mice and Men or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Crooks is a very isolated character in the novella. As he is black and the only coloured man in Soledad he is discriminated against. Although he was born in California, the other men on the ranch still call him a Niger and a Negro. He has to live in a separate room to the bunk house and is not allowed in there to socialise or play cards because the other men, they say I [he] stinks As Crooks has been isolated and treated so badly for so long he no longer accepts charity and turns away people who try to care and talk to him. He also no longer believes in wishes or dreams and tells Lennie Everbody wants a little piece of lan and nobody gets no land which proves his disbelief in the reality of dreams. Although Crooks lets himself slip at one point and admits he could imagine him pleasantly hoeing a patch of garden on Lennies farm one day. Curleys wife is the only character to have had her dream vaguely accessible at one point. However she missed the opportunity and we find out later in the novella she deeply regrets not trying harder for it. When she was younger she met a guy who was involved with Hollywood but she never received the letter she was promised from him and she believed her mother had stolen it. Instead she ended up leading a miserable life with an unsuccessful marriage. It is never clear whether Curley has a direct dream hes aiming for but by using our inference and deduction skills we can assume alot of things that could be Curleys American dream. In one instance, Curley is always very protective over his wife and doesnt like her straying too far away from him. The other men on the ranch joke saying He spends half his time lookin for her [Curleys wife] , and the rest of the time shes lookin for him [Curley]. This could be from a previous experiences, he couldve had a previous wife who left him for another man. We will never know why Curley is so protective but one point we do know is that part of his dream might be to have a loyal wife, who is faithful, and never chats to other men. Candy is also a very isolated person in the novella, along with many other characters. Candy is the oldest man on the ranch and the only close companion he really had was his dog, who he ended up letting Carlson shoot. When Lennie and Crooks are talking about the dream land with a little place, Candy latches himself onto Lennies dream to have a couple of acres of land and a dog an rabbits an chickens. Were [George, Lennie and Candy] gonna have green corn an maybe a cow or a goat Although almost every character has their own American dream not one of them achieve it, which proves Crooks point Its jus in their head. The American dream is not correct in this case because it says anything is attainable through hard work and all people can succeed through hard work, which isnt true because Lennie, George and many of the other ranch workers have worked their whole lives to try and make enough money to get their own little place, but no one does. This shows she impossibility of the American Dream in a world with not enough freedom and contentment but too much inequality and unfairness. By Maisie Tang U4S