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

When one attempts to pursue our own dreams, sometimes one may end up in their own tiny, empty world. In America in the 1930’s, many out in the west dreamed the American Dream, to have something of his or her own, but dryness and overfarming let to the dust- bowl, and this dream was shattered. John Steinbeck in Of Mice and Men discusses this process of disillusion and inability. Each person has a dream, but most give the impression that they haven’t realized it. As George tells his friend Lenny: “ ‘No sir we’d have our own place where we belong…’ ” (Steinbeck 57), one can see that there are things in their lives that impede them from reaching their goal of the American Dream. Steinbeck rejects the American Dream by showing that none of the characters

At this time, families were split up because they couldn’t always afford to feed all their children. Kids became homeless, riding trains from town to town, looking for work or food. There’s a sense of seclusion associated with this reality, the survival of your own. Then, companionship developed amongst these travelers, the kind of friendship that George and Lennie have in the story. All they really have is each other, having given up everything to try to endure the Great Depression: “ ‘There’s enough beans for four men’… Lennie watched him from over the fire. He said patiently, ‘I like’em ketchup.’” (Steinbeck 10). Lennie may not be able to take care George, but he does what he can for his friend. Although they both are friends, they have a shared sense of solitude.

Another problem for the Dream was in the American West, where a large number of migrant workers were looking for work on farms as crops needed to be harvested. George and Lennie are migrant laborers who are going from place to place looking for work, trying to save up money for their own farm with rabbits. These migrants, in these situations they’re working for just enough money to buy food, and they are stuck in the cycle of having to wander around, looking for any job they can find. Once again, living hand to mouth shows little or no progression towards the American