Raisin In The Sun: The American Dream

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A stable income and a happy family is usually the picture that pops into people’s heads when discussing the American Dream. The American Dream idea plays a major role in the novel Of Mice and Men and the play A Raisin in the Sun. In Of Mice and Men, the main characters want to earn enough money so that they can build and own their own ranch. In A Raisin in the Sun, Mama wants a house with garden and Beneatha wants to become a doctor; furthermore,Walter wants to invest in a liquor store. The effects of having an American Dream to chase and then losing the dream are different on the relationships between characters in Of Mice and Men compared to those of A Raisin in the Sun. In the novel Of Mice and Men, the relationships of the characters …show more content…

George's relationship with Lennie is over. He comes to a situation where the best choice is to kill his best friend, Lennie. After Lennie kills Curley’s wife, George does not pursue the dream anymore. He inevitably gives up on the dream after all that they had done. Even though they were so close to achieving their dream, he could not think about it anymore. The reason George did not want to keep thinking about the dream is because he looked at it sentimentally and it reminded him of Lennie (Lisca). This made him lose his hopes for the dream because he thought of the dream with Lennie, but now Lennie is gone (Wagenknecht). He is sad because Lennie is dead, so he does not care about Candy anymore. After Lennie dies, George has lost any motivation he had before to follow through with the plans of the ranch. Since the ranch plans were the only thing that connects and bonds Candy and George, they no longer have a connection or something to bond over, weakening their relationship. After George kills Lennie, he doesn’t want to continue the ranch aspirations. Candy is devastated and disappointed with George because the dream is lost. Candy asked George if they would still continue the dream with just them and “before George answered, Candy dropped his head and looked down at the hay. He knew” (Steinbeck 94). In that moment, Candy’s hopes of owning a ranch and sharing it with his friends are shattered. George believed that thinking and trying to achieve the dream without Lennie is not the same because Lennie is the who created the plan. Without the builder, a building can not be built. Because of George’s mentality about the dream, the bond between him and Candy

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