The American Dream in Of Mice and Men, The Great Gatsby, Two Kinds, and Sophistication

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The American Dream in Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Two Kinds writer by Amy Tan, and in “Sophistication” by Sherwood Anderson.

Working hard is the key to success. This struggle for success is most commonly called the “American Dream.” The aspect of the American Dream has been around forever and is often the underlying theme in many pieces of American literature. The theme of the American is especially presented in Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Two Kinds writer by Amy Tan, and in “Sophistication” by Sherwood Anderson.

The theme of the American Dream is presented in Of Mice and Men. The theme is particularly expressed through and around the characters of George and Lennie. Both of these characters have a belief, a dream of owning their own little place to call their own, or as George would say “We’re gonna have a little place and a couple of acres an’ some cows and some pigs...”(Steinbeck,14) This dream is mostly expressed through Lennie but George is the one who supports Lennie. Lennie is the most dedicated to the dream. This dedication is shown when he said “An’ live off the fatta the lan.”(Steinbeck,14) This proven b critics like Kevin Attell who said ”This is the kind of life that George and Lennie dream of living.”(Attell)

Also, the theme of the American Dream is presented in Of Mice and Men through the character of Candy. Candy is an old farm hand who is becoming of not much use around the farm anymore. Candy knows that desperate times call for desperate measures so he goes in on George and Lennie’s plan to buy a little farm. This is shown when candy says “It’ll be our own place.”(Steinbeck,60) Candy shows great spirit throughout the book and really shows off the good aspects of the American Dream. It is only until the end of the book until the plan to go away starts to be questioned. He starts saying questions like ”You an’ me can get that little place cant we, George?”(Steinbeck,94) This denial was once again recognized my Kevin Attell, who said “George and Lennie’s dream is specifically necessitated by and responds to the limitations played on their lives.”(Attell) By using Candy as a character striving for the American Dream, the fact that the dream is attainable to all is presente...

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...xploring novels, Gale Group Databases. Father Ryan High School Library, Nashville 6May 2004 www.infotracgalegroup.com
Eble, Kenneth. “F. Scott Fitzgerald. Chap 5, Sec 3. The Great Gatsby” in Twayne’s United States Authors Series Online. New York: GK Hall, 1999. Literature Resource Center. Gale Group Database. Father Ryan High School Library, Nashville TN. 6 May 2004
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. Chatham: Wordsworth, 1993
Piedmont-Marton, Elizabeth. Liz. Critical essay on “Two Kinds.” Short Stories for Students. Ed. Kathleen Wilson. Vol. 9. Detroit: Gale, 2000. 293-296
Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York: Penguin Books, 1993
Tan, Amy. “Two Kinds”. The Joy Luck Club. New York: Putnam, 1989. 132-144
Walcutt, Charles Child. :”Sherwood Anderson: Impressionism and the buried life”. The Sewanee Review. 60.1 (1952). 28-47. Excerpted and reprinted in Short Stories for Students. Ed. Kathleen Wilson. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale, 2000. 293-296

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