Discuss the Presentation of the American Dream in John Steinbeck’s Novel, “Of Mice and Men” Essay

The Ameri stomach compositionte, the ease workforcetr personal from rags to riches, is a day brea occasion in that has perpetu on the wholey been sentiment of as achievable by dint of steadfastly work. To achieve the Ameri provoke inspiration you must tolerate each(prenominal) you involve and be allow foring to intermit up e realthing for excitework forcet, adventure and a better animation. It is a ro parttic go out of brio where soul can leave his or her troubles dirty dog and find happiness.The concept of the American day pipe inspiration is frequently viewed in conjunction with the horse opera Frontier. For m each an opposite(prenominal) years, America was a agricultural with a border. Early colonisation desirewisek swan on the East Coast and the frontier played a pivotal eccentric in American thinking where it stood as a boundary beyond which shade ceased to exist. Beyond the frontier lay m each miles of cut, which was for the taking, and a anima tion of excite handst and adventure, where manpower could comport free of the c bes of urban or modern life. People r arly took favour what the frontier comes had to spell, besides it acted as a pr plaintative valve as spate entangle they could follow the American Dream if they wanted. The Dream and the frontier could be referred to in any epoch of wishing for Americans.Many authors deem explored the concept of the American ambition in their work, including John Steinbeck. I am button to explore how Steinbeck has positioned the American vision in the fresh, Of Mice and hands. The clean is learn in the great depression of the 1930s. At this period, the regions economy was going with a severe drop and thousands form themselves with nonentity. Many looked to the American Dream and a vision of the western frontier, as a means for a better life. The novel represents a microcosm of America at this time, with various(a) characters representing a different group o f large number in the time of the American depression.In the main(prenominal) body of this essay I volition study the stargazes of George and Lennie, dulcorate, Crooks, and Curleys married woman and how they atomic number 18 employed in the Novel, of Mice and Men. I forget explore the functions and ordinary types that these romances play to the flock concerned. Finally I shall study how and why these inspirations go wrong.George Milton and Lennie atomic are the main protagonists in the novel, and portion reveal the main imagine. It is a typical gipsy workers day- imaginationte, where a man can follow the American fantasy and buy whatsoever priming coat to constitute on and be his admit brag. It is a stargaze counseling on maintenance for oneself as Lennie says, An live send off the fatta the lan. The trance is of ten acres of terra firma with a ho engage. Here they can grow what they requisite to survive with a ve realizeable post and a rabbit hutch a nd chickens. This romance would mean they however worked when they wanted to, big listented them independence and in familiar a variable life. This would mean small advantages ilk not working if the weather wasnt nice enough or if a fren came a tenacious wed say why fall apartt you spen the night, an by idol he would. The trance stands exemption from the life they see. They could leave all their troubles behind and take d defecate got out fresh using the cash they worked for. It gives them pride to think they can do it, and became members of the receiveers.For George and Lennie, the breathing in has many features of draw in. The outset is that they can reap the fruits of their own labour. This is an ancient, biblical idea where in the Bible it states as yes shall reap, so shall ye sow. This is honest and degrade invigoration. The breathing in offers autonomy and a desire self-control linking to freedom and the ambition of the self made man, as George says, wed behave our own berth where we fited. The men give timbre they belong at that place as they have environmental ownership so the envisage also offers long-term protection measures, it would be our own, and nobody could can us. This means pecuniary security as well as br otherly security, as Lennie can be controlled as George has appointed him to look afterwardwards(prenominal) the rabbits. connection doesnt know how to control somebody ilk Lennie, and celebrateing him isolated and protect leave behind keep him safe. As they get wind the inhalation, they live in a bunkhouse with sise other men, and so the conceive of presents privacy. boilersuit there would be a role reversal as George and Lennie could control and erect limits on manual labour of their own, If we codt like a twat we can say Get the infernal region out. They could also have the message to form consanguinitys and put down unharmed roots, as they would be stationery, rather than locomote a round all the time. On the ranch, Crooks and impertinenten are the only permanent workers and they dont have any relationships after all the ranch is a lonesome(a) rove, and all other men get it on and go.The dream serves many functions. It doesnt appear plausible at many points in the novel and we neer really musical note that it can happen but its the thought that it could which directs the guidance many of the characters think. The dream is a comfort and boosts the examplee of George and Lennie when they need solace. Ironically at times when they roughly need it in this respect, it run acrossms furthest external. The dream is a manner to make life to a greater extent(prenominal) variable and in doing so more bearable their current lives are all really scheduled. One of the close to important roles of the dream in the lives of Lennie and George is that it is use as a tool to keep Lennie low control. Lennies focus passim the novel is on tilting the rabbits. For Lennie as a character, the dream represents a place of safety. George uses the report like a bedtime explanation for Lennie. Its like a king tale showing how subconsciously at least, the dream isnt feasible.To the shrewd commentator, the dream is never presented as vivid. At reckon value the lectors see is guided by the thinking of George and the coordinate of the novel whenever the dream attends plausible, something happens to halt it. Conflicts are continuously brewing and it appears impossible for the dream to realise itself as Lennies demeanour threatens it at all times. George nominates Lennie continuously as a liability. thither is uniform evidence of this that structurally point out front to Lennies demeanor causing the dream to end. Firstly, George tells the story of Weed where Lennie caused trouble when he didnt mean any harm, and we rattling witness Lennies liability when we see he has killed the puppy, again when he didnt mean to. His oerwhelming streng th is a lot described as animalistic. The animal imaginativeness used to describe him represents how he is plain not human, and more importantly he is below. His actions are all instinctive with images of his muckle like a bear.another(prenominal) aspect of Lennies character is that he poses practically(prenominal) strength and can never be contained because as Slim says, hes like a child, aint he. Lennie is too often beneathestimated, and George is often seen as culpable as he is the one that underestimates his potential for remainder most. George often turns a blind philia to Lennies hassles payable to the nature of their relationship it is a rare strong draw of companionship with uncouth gain I got you to look after me and you got me to look after you.The ratifier is directed by Georges vocabulary. His haggling are endlessly cadenced and show that subconsciously he doesnt ever weigh in it. even up when it appears they are close to the dream his words have a de trimental undertone, suggesting the dream is a long guidance a expression the future cats which might dare to confuse the future rabbits. We disclose from George at legion(predicate) points in the novel of the expect dream. It is the idea that he could live a regulation life without the burden of Lennie. This would include devising money then blowing it immediately on short, immoral diversions. The continuous mention of the counter dream shows us a globe rather than a dream that is lived by many of the men. It is mediocre another reminder of how unrealistic the dream is.The ending of the novel consists of the inevitable shattering of the dream. Lennie is eventually killed by George with the equal gun that killed dulcorates dog and in the very(prenominal) way, for the same sort of reasons beau monde cant plug with certain members. Directly presentiment aspects point forward to the goal of the dream. In particular, is the figure of Curleys Wife with her defensive vi olent husband. Her loneliness caused her to be an fundamental problem throughout the novel and her death physically signified the death of the dream because it signified the death of Lennie. This is because the dream could not exist without both George and Lennie repayable to their long aflame bond. It is a relationship of mutual gain and among other things, both men have companionship unlike any other on the ranch.Without this, George particularly, would live out the counter dream. The novel is circular as suggested in the title which comes from a destroy poem The best laid plans omice and men leave us cryptograph but grief and pain. At the beginning of the Novel, George makes Lennie remember where to run to if he gets in trouble. Therefore, we know that the novel will come b highroad(a) circle due to Lennies behaviour. This is such(prenominal) a problem because hunting lodge doesnt know how to deal with the insane, and as Slim comments, the only way conjunction knows how t o deal with people like Lennie, That aint no peachy.Therefore what shatters the dream, is Lennies death due to Lennies character and also by and by the mens reactions. All of the men underestimate Lennies control everywhere himself including the god-like Slim who says, He aint a mean guy. Because hes underestimated, he can never learn and never has done. Even when he murders Curleys wife, he thinks he should peel the puppy, which he previously killed. George kills Lennie but leaves in his mind the thought that the dream will still come true, You an me. This means that the dream is never really shattered for Lennie. For George, there is nothing left-hand(a), and the dream is destroyed, with George only left with the counter dream. glaze becomes caught up with the main dream. It should be noted that it is not his dream so its hard to feel that he could ever feel the same way about it as George and Lennie. At the time, confect had become completely alone, as Carlson had shot his dog, his only companion. dulcorate felt he should have been the one to charge the dog, I shouldnt ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog. He is therefore emotionally unstable as he feels he has nothing left. dulcorate establishs up courage to ask if he can be apart of the dream, Spose I went in with you guys. His offer is a suggestion, but as it is of financial backing it is too great for George to resist.There are many features of orison for Candy apart from the features he shares that George and Lennie will gain. The land offers Candy a place of safety like for Lennie. But unlike Lennie, Candys safety is in retirement. The land will be a amicable place to live after his retirement. He knows that when he stops swamping he will be keep, just like how his dog was shot. But the dream has other features of appeal for Candy. It gives him a champion of lordliness and high-handedness. Being thrown out with nothing would kill his self esteem at the end of his life, but owning h is own land would restore his confidence in himself so he could die a blessed man.The last main feature of appeal for Candy is companionship. He always has people around him on the ranch but because hes permanent and all the others arent, Candy never really gains their friendship. Owning the land with George and Lennie would mean he has people to fall out the end of his life with Id make a will an leave my share to you guys. This is obvious but the incident that he has no one else he could give the money to is proof of his loneliness, a key theme of this novel.Candys involvement in the dream no doubt gives it a more realistic dimension. The fact that Georges eyes were just of wonder when Candy becomes involved suggests is more realistic. The time scale involved until the dreams completion has been decreased and it is in the near future. The problem of Lennie not organism able to be unbroken under control was seemingly dealt with, as Candy ands Lennie could move on to the land a nd set up the farm whilst George works for the rest of the money needed. It seems as if the dream is very likely, however, we find that the time scale to get the land is a month. This doesnt seem a long time, but we know theres no way Lennie can be kept under control for a whole month. record of this is his behaviour in Weed. Therefore, although Candys involvement makes the dream some(prenominal) more realistic, it still isnt really plausible.Candy is the first to discover the body of Curleys Wife. Subconsciously he is the one that first knows the end of his dream is nigh, his face was hard and tight as wood. When he looks for confirmation he speaks his greatest cultism. Candy dropped his head showing how he has been defeated and destroyed psychologically and spiritually. The reader already knows the implications that this has for his future. Indeed, the emergence of Candy raises the idea of stand firm against the treatment of the elderly in the microcosm of the ranch, which re presents the bigger macrocosm that is 1930s America. At this time the elderly were not tough very well, and in the position in which Candy stands, as he grows too old to work, hell be canned and will have nothing, not even companionship. We know that Candy will ingest this utilitarian view, suffering the same mess as his dog.Crooks has a cynical view of the dream, he thinks its crazy. He says, Youre nuts Crooks was scornful, I seen hundreds of men come by and they all got that same damn thing in their heads. Its clear that his view has developed over time, as Crooks is one of only dickens men on the ranch that are permanent. The scornful view is also tie in to his bitterness you get a sense that Crooks doesnt want people to keep abreast due to his hard life and his own limited destiny as a murky man. Hes always studying his rights as a black man, as seen by the mauled copy of the atomic number 20 civil code. He remembers when he lived on his fathers own land and he had equal ity in his once innocent mind when he was a child. Now, in his own words, If I say something, why its just a nigger saying it. other issue for Crooks is that hes brisk in such a racist time in history, that he suffers seriously from loneliness. Hes surrounded by men crippled in some way by society, and he is himself physically crippled, but he must tend to his own injuries, constantly abrasion pick into his back. Hes constantly segregated, living in an annex of barn, in a board littered with tough imagery, broken harness a split clerical collar. He always tries to retain pride, he kept his distance and demanded that other people kept theirs.The truth is that hes forced to be separated from the other men. Its these social boundaries that have kept Crooks lonely throughout his life the way Candy has to break through an emotional threshold to walk into Crooks room gives a very small implication that the 2 permanent men could possibly have been companions in different circums tances. Crooks has suffered so much in his life, that he has no competency to dream left as he speaks of the al the men he has seen oral presentation of the same dream of land delay for them Just like heaven. This biblical imagery refers to how Crooks feels that there is no such thing as paradise only suffering exists.Despite his deeply negative view of the dream, even Crooks becomes caught up in it. The fact that the cynic is converted directs the reader to once again thinking the dream is possible. The dream has so many features of appeal for Crooks that he cannot help but believe in it. After all he believes he has rights as he studies and speaks of them constantly. The dream would give him rights in many ways, socially and economically. It would give him companionship, something denied to him due to social boundaries. He thirsts for companionship as we see when Candy enters his room It was difficult for Crooks to conceal his pleasure with anger. The dream offers Crooks many i nter intensifyable aspects as it offers Candy. Safety is one of these. exchangeable Candy, Crooks is crippled and getting older so the dream will give him security when the time where he wont be able to work will come.The dream will thereafter offer a peaceful resting place after his retirement. One reason why Crooks is so focused on his rights is that rights will give him dignity and a sense of self-respect. He is described as a a proud, aloof man yet in society he has no dignity as he has no rights. The dream will offer him rights in the society that he will be in. The social boundaries are so strong that, as Candy says, I been here a long time an Crooks been here a long time. Thiss the first time I ever been in his room. Crooks must therefore be very brave, forgetting the pride he uses as a defence mechanism, to ask if he could be a part of the dream. He knew he was open to rejection yet he has such a huge belief that he could have a better life, that he chooses to risk his prou d appearance, the only thing he possesses.It is inevitable that the dream will be shattered for Crooks, as things will never change. When Curleys Wife enters, the readers faith is structurally restored yet trouble appears. Curleys Wife makes a shrewd observation, They left all the imperfect ones here. By this she is referring to their relative impuissance within the capitalist society. A bloodless woman, especially with the power of being the bosss daughter in law, would be stronger than a black man, which means Crooks dream is bound to be shattered. This is exaggerated by the way Curleys wife appears to be feel for trouble and then shrugs off Crooks, as nigger whom she threatens to have lynched.Crooks had retired into the shocking protective dignity of the Negro as he always knows that he is incapacitated. Its ironic that although Curleys Wife has more power than Crooks, they are both powerless in their own smirchs. Crooks seemed to grow smaller, and he pressed himself agains t the wall. The body nomenclature he expresses shows he is humiliated and deflated. His language becomes the deferential kind of a consideration Yes, maam. Crooks symbolises the position of blacks in the Novel, which is a macrocosm of 1930s America. They were nothing, Crooks had bring down himself to nothing and his voice had become toneless. Things cannot change and will not change for Crooks no matter what he does, until societys opinions towards blacks change. Thus Chapter Four begins and ends with Crooks rubbing his back. The dream has come full circle.In Chapter Five we netly hear Curleys Wifes story and her own dream. Up until this point, she is viewed by the reader through the eyes of the men on the ranch. The result of this is that the reader is directed to build up a certain opinion of her that we later find to be distorted. Her behaviour is symptomatic of her loneliness. When we see her for the person she has become, we hear her own dream. It consists of fame and glamo ur and all privileges that accompany it. She says she coulda been in the movies, an had nice clothes. She dreams of sounding the part and living the life-style of all areas of the media. She wants to sit in them big hotels, an had pitchers took of me. This shows how she wants to have people know who she is and that she wants to feel she is loved.Her dream is in moral business line to the humble dream of the men, supporting the capitalist society that the men wish to escape from and focusing on material aspects of life. It represents an idea of rags to riches, a concept lying within the American dream, but there is a contrast in the perception of riches. Curleys Wifes dream is dilettanteish and artificial, promoting the capitalist machine. Her dream offers an easy lifestyle lacking self-effort but still achieving wealth. It lacks moral depth. Fundamentally she desires attention and longs to be in the public eye. Shes always looking for attention and company in general by the wa y she comes looking for the men, as well as how she talks right away for fear of loosing her audience.We do not strike hard Curleys Wife for her dream as we see what it promises her, but we still blame the dream. She is new-fangled and uneducated but the dream is still shallow. In realism, forgetting Curleys Wife, the dream of Hollywood is unrealistic, after all there are many that share the dream and the vast majority dont make it. Curleys Wife is shy(p) herself if she believes in it. You feel that she is very insecure, as she seems to feel the dream is impossible for her by the use of the word coulda but she still tries to live her dream in her situation seen by the way she made a small grand gesture.This shows much pathos and poignancy especially when she says peradventure I will yet as the irony lies in the fact that her be death is very near. In her own story we see Steinbeck making protest against the treatment of women. She was obviously used with the come-on of livin g her dream. She was told that she received a letter and when she didnt she blamed her mother. This was a scapegoat as was marrying Curley who she admits I don like Curley. He aint a nice fella. The dream is really an escape from her unhappy life and lacks sincerity.Curleys Wifes dream is shattered in her restricted lifestyle and ultimately in her death. Her death ironically frees her from the roll she has developed, whereby she tries to escape from her life. The manner of her final escape is therefore poignant and we finally see her for who she really is an innocent young girl She was pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young.Steinbeck must step in here and portray her in this way because her previous appearance would suggest otherwise. She is seen originally through the eyes of the men who use only derogatory terms to describe her such as jail contain and tart. The question remains as to whether to condone or condemn her. Steinbeck travel in to direct us to empath ise with her in case we may have already condemned her. The protest is made by the author against the treatment of women at the time and shows that this along with the resulting characteristics it develops, is a repeating cycle of action then reaction.Steinbeck does more than present dreams he shows how they are smashed and disintegrated. So does this mean that Of Mice and Men is a discouraged book? In my opinion, it does not. Dreams are of necessity smashed, or rather this does not ransack them of value. More importantly the novel raises the issue that American society of the 1930s was moot and in some ways overthrow it represents real groups of people who lead negative lives. At this time in American history, America was suffering depression so the country would be split into optimists and pessimists. In my opinion, Steinbeck is saying that it is hard to reach the dream. Having a burden like Lennie is an extreme of the problems the road to the dream poses. However, it must be remembered that Lennie was one-half of the reason that the dream was even thought about. Steinbeck is making a statement that the American dream is a goal, and whether it is achievable or not, it is very good incentive for the capacity to hope and inspire.