How does Steinbeck show that the American dream is just a myth?

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Of Mice and Men

By John Steinbeck

How does Steinbeck show that the American dream is just a myth?

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, is set in Salinas, California in the 1930’s at the time of The Great Depression.  The book is about the lives of two working men and it covers topics such as industrialisation and racism, both important issues in the USA at the time.  All the workers had their own personal dream to achieve (The American Dream), but none of them managed to achieve their dreams and in the end the American dream proves to be unachievable.      

The two main characters are George and Lennie and they dream of owning their own ranch.  George is described as small with sharp features with, “a thin and bony nose” (p. 2).  George quite often gets fed up with Lennie because he is so forgetful and he gets into trouble.  When this happens, George is the one who always has to solve the problems and to get them out of trouble.  George and Lennie share a dream.  Really it is Lennie’s dream, but George articulates it for the both of them.  The dream is to own their own bit of land.  He describes the plight of ranch workers, “Guys like us, that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world.” (p. 14)  “Some day … we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres . . . ‘An’ live off the fatta the lan” (p. 15).

In contrast to George, Lennie is described as “ . . . his opposite, a huge man . . . (p. 2).  George looks after Lennie as the latter has a mental health condition or learning needs, which were not recognised in those days.  At the time the book was written Lennie would have just been seen as dumb.  Lennie got himself into all sorts of trouble, but had usually managed to avoid being caught.  Lennie also had a very poor memory, which meant George had to keep on reminding him all the time.  Lennie was very child like in the way he behaved.  However, he was also compared to an animal and described as strong and violent.  Referring to the book Lennie “walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws” (p. 2).  The book’s description of Lennie vividly portrays the image of a very large bear-like man whose physical presence must have been quite scary.  This contrasts greatly with his mental state, which was more like a small child or toddler.  This is the reason why Lennie was always getting himself in trouble.

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At the beginning of the book all we know is that George and Lennie are walking to “the ranch”, which is where they were going to start a new job.  They got chased out of the previous ranch they worked at because of a misunderstanding.  Lennie could be dopey and like a child tended to follow his instincts without being aware of what was socially acceptable. The trouble at their previous job came about when Lennie saw a young girl with a pretty dress on.  Although he wasn’t interested in the girl, he liked the dress so he grabbed it. ...

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