Comparing The American Dream In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

2020 Words9 Pages
Dreams are important to everyone as it acts as motivation to carry on in tough circumstances. The novella is set in the 1930’s, right after the Wall Street Crash. Unemployment rates were high, so men had to travel around to find work. They usually travel alone, and they moved from ranch to ranch to find short term work as it is the only work available. These workers have no friends and family, are dependent on their employers and have no control over their lives. Their dream provides them with comfort and motivation to work hard, so they can escape from their present lifestyle. The typical American Dream is to have independence and to own something. All the characters in Of Mice and Men has their own version of the American dream. Most characters…show more content…
She wants attention and wants to be loved. She is desperate to achieve her dream, which made her believe all the lies that a stranger told her. When she found that the whole “movie” plot was fake, she marries Curley as an attempt to escape from her loneliness. She thought she would achieve her dream by marrying Curley, but the opposite happens. She becomes a minor character in the book, who is called “Curley's wife” instead of being given a name. She now has no hope of achieving her dream, she is not noticed and she gets no attention from other men. She is regarded as “jail bait” and a “tart” from other ranchmen's point of view. Her desperation of achieving her dream had brought her into a place in nowhere with nobody to talk to. She can only get attention from other men on the ranch, but when the other men do not care about her, she finds Lennie to talk at. Due to her loneliness and her desperation for attention, she values attention more than her safety. She lets Lennie touch her hair, where Lennie accidentally kills her. She is finally described as “pretty and simple”, where she finally gets the attention she wants. Her dream for attention is only achieved after she is killed. This shows that the blind pursuit of your dream is dangerous when you value your dream over your
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