The American Dream in Of Mice and Men Essays

The American Dream in Of Mice and Men Essays The American Dream in Of Mice and Men Paper The American Dream in Of Mice and Men Paper Essay Topic: Of Mice and Men Of Mice and Men: The American Dream Hopes and dreams play an important in the novel Of Mice and Men. Author, John Steinbeck, uses the motivation provided by the different ambitions and dreams of characters to keep the book progressing as it thickens the plot of the story and makes readers take a larger interest in the possible outcomes of the characters. In many ways the individual dreams of the characters and the so-called ‘American Dream’ provides the basis for the novel. They, being the different dreams found throughout the novel, are what initially fuels the novel in the early stages of the story, they are what come into question in the middle of the novel when many of the characters are finally finding real hope for their dreams and they are what are crushed for most of the characters in the dramatic final stages of the novel. The individual dreams of the different characters play a large role in this novel. The simple and humble dreams and ambitions of Lennie provide hope and motivation for a lot of key characters, including George, Candy and Crooks.Lennie is an intensely simple and innocent character who is entirely dependent and faithful to George due to his mental disability. Lennie’s dream is of simply owning a farm with George where he is able to ‘live off the fatta the lan’ and tend to the rabbits, which ideally would be large enough for Lennie to handle without hurting. Lennie’s dream is immensely simple, and does not seem all that impossible in retrospective, but with the harsh conditions of the times and the disability suffered by Lennie, the dream seems all the more difficult to achieve. George also shares this dream, but with a more well rounded and realistic outlook on achieving it. George does not seek the soft fur of the rabbits and alphalpha like Lennie, but the security of owning his own home, his own farm and being his own boss.