The Unattainable American Dream

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In the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck illustrates the dreams of George,Lennie, and other characters and how these dreams are unrealistic and unattainable .Their dreams were the reason that these characters kept moving forward but because of difficult circumstances the dreams of George,Lennie,Candy and Curley's wife are shattered , they knew that their dream was never really attainable but they still had hope but because they were so greatly impacted by Lennies actions their dreams are never accomplished. Most of the characters in Of Mice and Men have their own version of the “American Dream” and in all their dreams they are happy ,and have finally reached their goal. Before her tragic death at the hands of Lennie ,Curley’s wife tells Lennie she wanted to be in the movies. “Her words tumbled out in a passion of communication...I met one of the actors... he says ‘i could go with that show’… If i’d went i wouldn't be living like this,you bet”(pg 88). Curley’s wife is not satisfied and reminiscences about the dreams of her past, and she wished she had gone to live her life and been an actress instead of marrying Curley and being isolated. She talked passionately about it because she wishes that was her life at the moment.Curley’s wife also could have been in the”pitchers”, “i met a guy… says he was gonna put me in the pitchers. .. He was gonna write me about it.. i never got that letter.. Thought my old lady stole it… I couldn’t make anything of myself.. So i married Curley”(pg88). Curley’s wife's dream was never obtained and there never was hope. The men that promised to make her dreams come true were never Sanchez 2 going to send her a letter and she never really was going to be part of the sho... ... middle of paper ... ... (pg 60) . Candy so desperately wants his dream to come true so he is willing to invest his saving on the land that George picked out so that he can finally have his dream come true. But after George kills Lennie not only is Georges dream shattered but so is Candys ,and part of him still wishes that he and George still would've bought the land. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck portrays dreams as being unattainable. Most of the characters in the book want to have something of their own to be happy but most of their dreams are never fulfilled because of different factors. Even Crooks the stable buck knew that dreams are never really attainable. After lennie tells crooks about the land crooks says “Ever’body wants a little piece of lan’... and nobody gets no land”(pg 74). Crooks who as seen many men with the same dreams as george knew it was never really attainable.

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