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

Jeon 2
Min Hee Jeon
Entry #1: The American Dream
The setting of Of Mice and Men—Salinas, California in the 1930s—conveys that the characters in the novel are representations of the migrant workers in that time period. To escape the arid farmlands, the itinerant workers went in search for work in the land of promise, California. However, they faced limited opportunities and poorly paid lives, which gave way to the seducing American dream. All the workers hoped for was a piece of their own land similar to that of George and Lennie's. Ultimately, as the ideal dream, it conforms to the American dream of liberty and pursuit of happiness.
George and Lennie's dream of "‘[living] offa the fatta the lan'" (Steinbeck 57) is repeatedly emphasized throughout the novel, which shows that the American dream played a huge role during the 1930s. George and Lennie constantly migrate from place to place in order to chase after their desires. Just as the American Dream gave hope and motivation to those who faced adversities during the 1930s, the dream essentially acts as a remedy with its assurance of attaining opulence by reinvigorating George, Lennie, and the marginalized men on the ranch. George vividly delineates the infeasible dream by saying that there will be no authority over them and that they will own a variety of

vegetables and farm animals. Lennie and George would be able to repose whenever they want, and Lennie would be able to tend the rabbits every day. Although George sees this as an idealistic fantasy, he does believe at least once that their dream can come true. This can be seen in George's response when he admits that he "‘usta like to hear about it so much [that he] got to thinking maybe [he] would'" (94). Moreover, the prevalent, preposterous nature of the dream for the migrant workers during the time is evinced through Crook's statement. He says that from the hundreds of workers that come to work on the ranch "‘never a God damn one of ‘em ever gets it'" (74). As soon as the dream seems to be reachable with Candy's savings money and their remuneration for working on the ranch, Lennie's bereavement leads to the death of the dream as well. Because of Lennie's adolescent mind, it made the far-reaching dream seem nearly attainable.

Entry #2: Friendship
The father and son relationship between Lennie and George is what keeps the two friends together unlike most of the other ranchers. This relationship is specifically portrayed when Lennie tries to lie to George about bringing the pups inside the barn. George knows in an instant that Lennie is lying. There are positive and negative aspects to their relationship, but the negative aspect is what hinders George the most. Lennie and George both depend on each other and look after each other to survive the harsh reality. Lennie's lack of intelligence is evident when he kills the mouse and the pup while stroking them without realizing his physical power. Because Lennie is unintelligent with an adolescent mind, he is often cared for by George in perturbing times. For example, after the rape incident back in Weed, George helps Lennie by absconding from the lynch mob. In addition, without George, Lennie would have not gotten the new job since no one would hire a dim-witted worker. While these supports from George may benefit Lennie, they are also onerous to George. He says that Lennie is "‘a lot of trouble'" (Steinbeck 7) and that he "‘could get along so easy and so nice if [he] didn't have [Lennie] on [his] tail'" (7). Although his statement may be true, George uses Lennie as an excuse for his misfortunes. Whether his burdensome friend is off his shoulders or not, in reality, George would have still faced the same poverty and life due to the economic downfall. Furthermore, Lennie's presence also avails George in that Lennie keeps the dream of owning a farm unbroken from reality. Because Lennie believes in it, he and George are enlivened to work for a better future ahead. Last but not least, their relationship provides a companionship that most ranchers are jealous of. Lennie's affection toward George is apparent in that he only remembers the things George tells him to do and that he would even leave his favorite ketchup all for George. Also, "‘everybody in the whole damn world is scared of each other'" (38) to have a companionship, but George admits that "‘It's a lot nicer to go around with a guy you know'" (35). The fact that two guys sticking with each other was uncommon conveys the distinctiveness of George and Lennie's relationship.

Entry #3: Racism
John Steinbeck's utilization of Crooks highlights the theme of desolation and depicts the existence of racial hardships. As the only black man on the ranch, Crooks struggles to fight against isolation because of his skin color. He "‘couldn't go into the bunkhouse and play rummy ‘cause [he] was black'" (Steinbeck 72). Therefore, he lives in a barn with the other animals while the ranchers live in a bunkhouse. Because the ranchers do not allow him to enter the bunkhouse, he tells the other ranchers to keep out of his room. Even when the most amicable character, Lennie, tries to come in, the stable buck acrimoniously tells Lennie that he has "‘no right to come in [his] room'" (68). Crooks also coldly responds to Candy's entering his room, but actually "It was difficult for Crooks to conceal his pleasure with anger" (75) because he has always wanted companionship to escape his solitude. On top of that, Crooks does not have any companionship because the other ranchers treat him harshly. For instance, during a Christmas celebration, a skinner physically assaults Crooks and could have killed Crooks if he could have used his feet. In addition, "‘the boss gives [Crooks] hell when he's mad'" (20) even though Crooks does not do anything wrong. Just like Lennie, Crooks is the target of brutality. Although he demands others to keep a distance from him, Crooks has a dream of evading solitude, but the racist society blocks the door of companionship. Thus, Crooks finds compeers in his books but even he confesses that "Books ain't no good. A guy needs somebody—to be near him" (72). However, others do not realize Crooks's loneliness. When Candy sees the room, he says that it "‘Must be nice to have a room all to yourself this way'" (75). Lastly, as soon as his dream seems to come true, Curley's wife brings him back to reality by saying that "‘[she] could get [him] strung upon a tree so easy it ain't even funny'" (81). A colored man had no place in a white society during the 1930s. The degree of Crooks's reclusiveness is nowhere near that of others' remoteness. Through Crooks, Steinbeck epitomizes the power of companionship.
If Crooks was not incorporated in the novel, the readers would not have had a vivid portrayal of how black people were treated and how prevalent discrimination was on the ranch. The story would have a gap between reality and imagination since Crooks is the only character in the book that perceives the reality of the ranchers' hopes.

Entry #4: Euthanasia
John Steinbeck characterizes mercy killing as a controversial topic because it can be done out of good or avaricious intentions. Throughout the novel, he validates the statement with three disparate episodes: the killing of Candy's dog, the drowning of Slim's pups, and Lennie's death. Although the purpose of mercy killings is to extricate the people from an even more excruciating affliction, the characters in Of Mice and Men either perform mercy killing for its actual purpose or for their own good.
To start with, because Candy's dog is "‘so God damn old he can't hardly walk'" (Steinbeck 36), blind, deaf, and rancid, the men on the ranch cannot stand the malodorous dog.

While a reader might argue that the men wanted to get rid of the dog because the dog was suffering, the men in fact desired to shoot the dog for the sake of themselves, not for the dog's misery. Disregarding Candy's affection toward the dog, they pressured Candy to let them shoot the dog. Carlson constantly kept insisting that if they shot the dog in the back of his head, "‘he'd never know what hit him'" (45). The ranchers' rapacious nature turns the intentional mercy killing into a

murder.
Steinbeck also demonstrates two justifiable mercy killings. Slim drowns four other pups for the good of the mother pup. He knew that the mother could not endure to feed all nine pups. Additionally, George kills Lennie to free him from his possible future torments. Lennie's mental and physical disabilities hamper his ability to be normal. As a result, he is precarious in that he himself does not realize his uncontrollable, immense strength. His aforementioned characteristics lead to a detrimental event: the murder of Curley's wife. George realizes that Curley will not leave Lennie alone as quoted by Candy: "‘Curley gon'ta wanta get ‘im lynched. Curley'll get ‘im killed'" (94). George decides to kill Lennie compassionately to prevent further afflictions by letting Lennie die happily. George retells the dream and prevents Lennie from seeing the shot coming. From George's stance, the euthanasia was an acceptable act of love since Lennie would have had to go through agonizing torture: lynching or shooting. Lennie's death was inevitable, and running away again was not going to resolve it the second time.