Brown 1 Lindsey Brown Mr. Fielder English 9 6 June 2014 The True Context of an American Dream The American Dream is a bit of shameless propaganda that s been attempting to show America in a positive light since it s creation. The definition of the American Dream is that all Americans, no matter who they are or where they come from, have the chance to make all of their dreams come true through hard work and perseverance. However, the lie often trembles in the face of truth. The theme of John Steinbeck s novella Of Mice and Men, is that the American Dream may not be as universal or as simple as it claims to be. The book takes place in the Salinas Valley of California during the Great Depression. The protagonists are George and Lennie, two migrant workers who are recently employed at a farm. While employed, George plans to share a stake with Lennie and Candy. However, Lennie kills the wife of Curley, another worker, and to spare Lennie of Curley s wrath, George shoots him and gives up on his dream consequently. In the novella, you witness the struggles and losses suffered by every character as they futilely fight to live their dreams and make something of themselves. By writing the novella Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck is trying to tell readers that the American Dream is an unattainable ambition, and many Americans will have their dream crushed. There are many instances in Steinbeck s novel of characters giving up on their dreams. One example of this is George saying, "I ll work my month an I ll take my fifty bucks an I ll
Brown 2 stay all night in some lousy cat house. Or I ll set in some poolroom til ever body goes home. An then I ll come back an work another month an I ll have fifty bucks more ( Steinbeck 95). By saying this, George admits hes giving up on his dream of owning a stake. This proves that even people who are nearly within reach of their dream can still be driven to quit. Though one of the principles of the American Dream is perseverance, sometimes people run out of effort. It can be hard to carry on when all a person has experienced is disappointments. Migrant workers of the 1930 s like George and Lennie were especially used to being let down. Most workers didn t even dare to dream, knowing that they would spend the rest of their lives working farm to farm. The American Dream leaves it s believers with nothing, it is just a fantasy to make people feel better about their meager situation. People don t always think they are necessarily give up; to them, it is accepting circumstance. Another example of a characters giving up is when candy gave up on his dog. Though his dog wasn t technically his dream, it was still his everything. Candy s dog can be used to symbolise him quitting on his dream, as he does later with his dream of a stake. Candy feed the dog milk everyday. They depended on each other. Candy had never had much more than his dog. His dog was like his rock, especially since he had nobody. Even with the promise of a new puppy, he was still hesitant, because it would never be the same. When he let Carlson shoot his dog, he was accepting the fact that he was none more than a poor itinerant worker, and it was to his disadvantage to try to keep his dog with him. Even though he loved it, he let it go because it was like a burden to him. He had to give up on his dog, and later, his dream, because he comes to terms with the fact that they both are dragging him down.
Brown 3 Another problem that makes the American Dream unacheivable is it s unavailability to oppressed or generally disliked people groups. In the novella, Crooks is an African American stable buck on the same farm as George and Lennie. He s good at horseshoes and seemingly pleasant with the other workers, but they still treat him differently due to his ethnicity. Crooks isn t even allowed to be in the bunkhouse with the others, and there is a story told where the men got drunk and beat Crooks without punishment. Even though he hasn t done anything to offend or provoke that type of behavior, he still receives it daily. Other workers discriminate against him even though he has been there longer and seems to be a harder worker than the rest of them. This type of treatment causes Crooks to not even try to dream, especially since he would be discriminated to. Crooks even says, I read plenty of books out there. Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land. Not only does Crooks not believe in his own dream, but here he states that no ones dreams are ever meant to come true. Crooks doesn t believe in dreams because he sees his dream of fair treatment grow smaller every day. The American Dream is even harder for disadvantaged people groups because it is harder to dream and achieve said dreams when you spend your whole life being treated like they re worthless. Another character who suffers from being the victim of discrimination is Curley s wife. As the only woman on the farm, all of the men treat her like she s promiscuous, calling her a tart and jailbait. It was already hard to be a woman in the 1930 s, as the only thing women could really do was stay home or work in a whorehouse. The men don t even bother to call her by her name, the most respectful thing they ever call her is Curley s wife. She s seen as no more than an immoral housewife, not a person who can have hopes and dreams. However, she dreamed anyway, revealing to Lennie that she could ve been in the pitchers, and that she was a
Brown 4 natural actress. She believed that her dream had a chance until the very end. What she didn't understand was how disadvantaged she really was. Not only was she a woman, but poorer at that. In reality, she was just another woman who had been told she was special, and was foolish enough to believe it. Even though the American dream says that anyone who tries hard can achieve their dream and turn their life around, poor or disadvantaged people rarely had the chance to change their lives, and stayed stuck in their unhappiness until death. Another factor making the American Dream nearly unattainable is it s exclusive accessibility, as only the fortunate ever live to see their dreams bloom. At the beginning of the novella, George and Lennie had an advantage. They had each other, which was more than most. George always told Lennie, Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no fambly. They don't belong no place. They come to a ranch an' work up a stake and then they go into town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they're poundin' their tail on some other ranch. They ain't got nothing to look ahead to." The average worker in this quote is They knew that the other guys had no chance compared to them, they knew that they were fortunate. Their advantage gave them hope. George only fell from his grace when he lost Lennie, because he was no longer lucky enough to reach his ambitions. a perfect example of the American Dream only favouring the fortunate would not be any other character or circumstance. The only perfect example from the book is the book. This entire novella is the hardships of a band of characters who never had a chance. The majority of the characters were migrant workers, whose small wages barely kept them alive. They couldn t save their money to better their lives because there was so little to save. These farmhands were not working to make a future or a fortune, they were just trying to keep themselves alive for
Brown 5 another day. Lennie s dreams were unreachable because Lennie didn t know how to control himself, and he would always mess things up for himself; it was inevitable. Georges hamartia was always having to fix whatever Lennie did, and eventually, being too alone without Lennie to dare dream. Candy was disabled, he knew full well he would never work again after he lost this job. Crooks and Curley s wife couldn t get ahead in a white, male dominated society because they would always face discrimination. Nearly every character in the novella Of Mice and Men was disadvantaged in society. Steinbeck is trying to tell readers that the American Dream is only a scheme to help poor, helpless Americans believe they have the power to make a difference, when in reality, everyone is facing different hardships that will keep them from reaching their goals. In conclusion, Steinbeck uses his novella Of Mice and Men to tell readers that the hardships faced in life are more often than not enough to keep us away from achieving our American Dreams, and believing in a dream won t serve much more of a purpose than to make the dreamer feel better. When George tries to make his dream come true, he ends up quitting because he realises he doesn t have a chance. The American Dream is like a promise to all citizens that their hard work will mean something. Unfortunately, most of the factors to achievement lie outside control. For some people, hard work will never be enough. Effort won t make up for the disadvantaged place some people find themselves in. Many Americans have found themselves with little more choice that to let their dreams go, because even when people give all they ve got, they still fall short. Sometimes, it s easier to come to terms with an unsatisfactory life than to be constantly let down.