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

890 Words4 Pages
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a novella about two companions, George, and Lennie. George is quick witted and small while Lennie is large and has a slight mental disability. These men are constantly switching jobs, as Lennie seems to get them in trouble before they can work at each location for a satisfactory period of time. The story takes place on a ranch in Salinas, California in the 1930s, during the Great Depression. It is every person’s hope in this book to obtain the elusive American Dream with the promise of independence and prosperity, yet no one is quite able to grasp it. Curley’s wife had always aspired to be an actress and movie star. Carlson, one of the ranch workers, wants to gain equity, while George and Lennie dream about…show more content…
He is the person to suggest that they kill Candy’s dog and lifelong friend. When workers arrive at the ranch they have big expectations and dreams about working up a stake and getting out of hard labor. Carlson and the other workers on the ranch go out every week to a bar and waste their money getting drunk. They all are working towards their own American Dream, which is why they are doing back-breaking work that they do not enjoy, for a controlling boss. All of that work is wasted on alcohol, not going towards their “Dream”. When George tells Lennie the plan to get their own farm, George tells Lennie about the other men that do not have companions such as Carlson: “They come to a ranch and work up a stake and then they go to town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they’re poundin’ their tail on some other ranch.” (13) After the men use up all of their money, they move to another ranch looking for work and the cycle begins again. The American Dream for them fades away as this repetitive cycle goes on until what they could have achieved is no more than a memory. However, George relates, it is better for them since they are in this together and support one another, thereby, greatly increasing their chances of
Open Document