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Steinbeck's techniques of mice and men
American dream in literature
American dream in literature
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Recommended: Steinbeck's techniques of mice and men
During the 1930’s many Americans went to California in order to have a financially stable life, at this point, the Great depression caused a loss of jobs and home; however, the American dream promises to give everyone the opportunity to achieve anything as long as they are willing to put in the effort. In his novel “Of Mice and Men”, John Steinbeck depicts many characters who have dreams of being someone greater and are willing to work for it. The main characters; George and Lennie, want to buy a piece of land to live on but their dream shortly collapsed. Steinbeck uses characters to reflect defects of society during the 1930’s being the American dream is just and illusion and will stay dreams because they live in a corrupted culture of exploitation, …show more content…
Curley’s wife had a dream of becoming an actress. “Went out to the Riverside Dance Palace with him. He says he was gonna put me in the movies. Say I was a natural. Soon’s he got back to Hollywood he was gonna write to me about it” … “I never got the letter,” she said. “I always thought my ol’ lady stole it”. (Pg. 88) A well-known actor was in the movies promised to write her back saying she should be in be in the movies with him at Hollywood, her grandmother doesn’t believe that she could do it, this leads her to think she took it and hid it away. She had, even more, opportunities to be famous and have a better life outside of her home town Salinas. “Come there when I was a Kid. Well, a show come through, an’ I met one of the actors. He says I could go with that show. But my ol’ lady wouldn’t let me … But the guy says I coulda. If I went, I wouldn’t be livin like this, you bet” … “So I married Curley. Met him out to the Riverside Dance Palace that same night.” No matter how many opportunities she got, her grandma always said no because she was too young and didn’t believe in her, instead she married Curley. Curley’s wife never was given a name by Steinbeck but still plays a big role because she shows that even if you are talented and are given many opportunities it may not work out as you plan it to, in her case she married Curley because it was the best she …show more content…
John Steinbeck skillfully uses the characters in “Of mice and men” to reflect the problem with the American dream. Each character has or had a dream thinking they can do it as long as they put in the effort, however as it is shown many times throughout the novel it is not always true. George, Lennie, and Candy are hard workers but are never usually rewarded to enjoy the fruits of their labor, Crooks has seen many people out for the same dream but just couldn’t do it, and Curley’s Wife has been given so many opportunities to be famous or something greater but something was always stopping her. The definition of the American dream has been changed many times throughout history, during the setting of the story it was the pursuit of material benefits, but today it promises to ensure that everyone has equal opportunity to pursue a personal vision that promotes faith and happiness, it was more corrupt in the 1930’s than it is today so it is not as big as a defect but instead has been almost
How does the reader’s perception of Curley’s Wife change through the book? In Of Mice and Men the reader’s opinion of Curley’s Wife changes throughout the book, in the beginning of the book the reader looks at her as trouble. Near the end the reader starts to feel sympathetic towards her. Although all the characters look at her as a “tramp”, despise, and avoid her, the reader sees her differently. The reader sees how miserable she is, and how many other things she has to put up with everyday. She might not be the nicest person out there, but she is still a person with feelings. The reader’s feelings drastically change from the beginning of the book to the end. She is perceived negatively repeatedly throughout the book, by all the characters at many different times. She is known as the “tramp” at the ranch, the reader would obviously think negatively of Curley’s Wife when all the characters are talking trash about her. In chapter 2 George said to Lennie “I seen ‘em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her. You leave her be.” After reading this how could the reader see Curley’s Wife in any other way. As the reader I also despised Curley’s Wife, I didn’t want her to get close to Lennie or George because I knew she would try and get them in trouble or something bad would happen with her being there. This quote specifies how almost every man felt on this ranch, and this was very early on in the book, George had not even had a decent conversation with her and he was already talking about her in this way. This was not only in the beginning of the book; at the scene of her death Candy was shouting “you got damn tramp” at her dead body. This shows even when she is dead, how little everyone cared about her. The r...
The American Dream is a dream that everyone imagines to be picture perfect. The American Dream means having freedom, equality and opportunity’s to achieve the dream that you conceptualize to be right by you. In the novel, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck did not want to just illustrate the American dream as being easy, but he wanted to point out the American Dream as being difficult too. Steinbeck made a work of art by composing a great novel to make the reader understand that life can be difficult and at times dreams are hard to achieve. Of Mice and Men was written and based on the settings of the Great Depression (Anderson). The Great Depression was a very dire time that left multiple of people despondent and the unavailing to move on with their lives. The Great Depression created a world where everyone had to seek and survive for themselves. In the novel Steinbeck wanted to explore and point out how powerless people where during the time of the Great Depression. Steinbeck purposely incorporated his characters to depict the life struggle of what people go through during grim times. In the novel, Steinbeck illustrated a great set of characters Lennie, George, Candy and Crooks. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck discusses handicaps, hardships, and friendships of the characters.
Curley's wife is seen as a cheap possession, a toy that belongs to Curley. A possession that he gets to control. His lack of love, respect and attention results to her death in the end. By all the men she’s seen as a tramp, they think that she’s out cause trouble. But the truth is she’s desperately lonely. She just wants someone to talk to. She’s missed out on a wonderful life that could have been hers, and that hurts her.
The 1920’s, or the beginning of feminist expression, was a period that embodied a carefree and relaxed attitude, however, this period of relative prosperity changed after the stock market collapsed in the 1920’s. This horrid event initiated “The Great Depression” where millions became homeless and millions more lived without knowing where their next meal would be. The life of Curley’s wife contrasts this period of sorrow by offering some kind of vision back into the past. Curley’s wife is more than a victim of circumstance; she embodies pettiness, cruelty, and self-obsession. These apparent factors make Curley’s wife the sharpest contrast to norms at the time of typical female behavior.
“I never seen no piece of jail-bait worse than her” (George) what is the reader supposed to think about Curley’s wife?
Other than being a topic of the novel, The American dream identify with a few characters. Lennie and George's fantasy of owning their little homestead and rabbits with Candy was a case of what a normal American dream was amid the 1930s Great Depression. The Great Depression has changed throughout the year relying upon the condition of the country. Amid the Great Depression the normal dream was simply singular fulfillment. To fulfill one's self amid the Great Depression was distinctive. Getting another or surprisingly better occupation was restricted of gaining fulfillment, yet the place where there is fresh chances to succeed was filled with emergency after the share trading system smashed. The American dream had lost its impact on America amid the 1930s, yet was still vivacious when men like George and Lennie sought after a superior and distinctive life and perpetual miracle into the desire for the better of individual
In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck shows American dream as an unreachable goal for the characters. Of Mice and Men is a novel based on two childhood friends, Lennie and George, who travel together in search of work. Lennie, the gentle giant, has a mental disability and an obsession of petting soft objects. One day, while stroking a girl’s hair, Lennie accidently kills her. And eventually by the end of the novel, George is forced to shoot Lennie. Steinbeck shows American Dream as an unreachable goal because of a character’s standing in the society, their dreams to be unreal and their dependency on other characters.
You're not always going to be successful in life, Curley's wife believes the American dream is attainable if you work hard and keep your eye on your goals, prizes must be earned. In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the theme is the american dream. Curleys wifes american dream was to become an successful actress during the great depression. Her other dream was to run away from home and get away from curley because she had never loved curley in the first place. Steinbeck uses curley's wife as an example of hard worker and keeping the eye on the prize will get your dream. Curley's wife is a strong, character who takes care of her man, does not show emotion and is lonely. “I tell you i ain’t use to livin like this,
The American Dream seems almost non-existent to those who haven’t already achieved it. Every character in the novel has moments of feeling happy and endures a moment where they believe that they are about to achieve their dreams. Naturally everyone dreams of being a better person, having better things and in 1920’s America, the scheme of getting rich is quick. However, each character had their dreams crushed in the novel mainly because of social and economic situations and their dream of happiness becomes a ‘dead dream’ leading them back to their ‘shallow lives’ or no life at all.
Founding father Benjamin Franklin described the American dream as the “pursuit of a better existence… a higher quality of life through hard work, determination, and devotion” (Benjamin Franklin). The American dream is an idea that if you work hard, you can rise from “rags to riches” and live a wealthy and prosperous life with moral values of respect and integrity. Ironically, Franklin’s version of the dream was decaying during the roaring 1920s when society became corrupt and obsessed with greed. In his classic book, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald shows how the American dream of “hard work, determination, and devotion” was deteriorating because society had become greedy and materialistic. In addition, moral values were in decline and that was illustrated by Tom Buchannan and his affair with Myrtle, Jay Gatsby and his illegal bootlegging business, and Daisy Buchannan and her affair with Gatsby.
The twentieth century has American dream has dramatically morphed from the pursuit of happiness the Framers of the Declaration of Independence intended. Ben Franklin sought happiness in the virtues morality, industry, and frugality, but others for others it was the pursuit of capitalism, climbing the social ladder, or filling your life with possessions. The complexity of the American Dream is that it has mean something different for each culture. Literature has been the vehicle for capturing the appraised dream for those in search of its security. The notion that there is opportunity for life to be richer and fuller for everyone has been replaced by the bitter reality of the American Dream, it is only a fantasy.
The American Dream is still alive and attainable to the American people despite its numerous paradox Steinbeck's claims in “The American Dream”. He went on to say many complaints to argue the Dream but still
In Of Mice & Men, the character Curley’s Wife is depicted as flirtatious, promiscuous, and insensitive. However, her husband Curley sees her as only a possession. Most of the workers at the ranch see her as a tart, whereas Slim, the peaceful and god-like figure out of all the men, see her as lonely. This answer will tell us to which extent, is Curley’s wife a victim, whether towards her flirtatious behaviour, or to everyone’s representation of her.
John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ is a social commentary on the reality of life in the 1930s. During the Great Depression many people were left unemployed and homeless. Due to this, the concept of the American Dream became even more idealized. Steinbeck uses characters and events that take place in the novella to display his views not only towards the American Dream but also the social ills of the era.
The American Dream, in the 1920’s, turned into a greedy system of obtaining wealth. Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, Nick Carraway, and Jordan Baker demonstrate that the American Dream has become corrupt through their symbolism in The Great Gatsby, by Scott Fitzgerald. The American Dream is about the pursuit of happiness, and that everyone is equal in opportunity to obtain happiness. Yes, if you want to make money and become wealthy, you can do that, given that you work hard enough. But this is where things start to get corrupt. The most important things in life are the relationships that you form with the people around you. In the 1920’s, it was all about having money and expensive possessions. Jay Gatsby had a dream of him and Daisy living the rest of their lives together, happily in love, but that dream was crushed by Tom, and he was ended by George, thus destroying the last shreds of the American Dream.