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Application of the american dream in popular literature
Application of the american dream in popular literature
Application of the american dream in popular literature
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In the novel Of Mice and Men, the theme of achieving the American Dream runs throughout the entire story. It is evident that all of the characters, especially George and Lennie, want to obtain some form of the American Dream. When other characters are introduced to their plan the dream seems to become easier to reach, but also involves including these characters in buying the land, which is not what George and Lennie really want because they originally imagined it being just the two of them. Multiple situations that occur throughout the story decrease the chances of most of the characters accomplishing the American Dream. A situation that minimizes the chances of the characters accomplishing the American Dream is when Lennie crushes Curley’s
hand. Curley goes into the bunk house itching to pick a fight with anyone. Lennie ends up Curley’s victim. While fighting, Curley scares Lennie which causes Lennie to grab onto Curley’s hand and not let go. George and Slim eventually get Lennie to loosen his grip, but Curley’s hand ends up badly injured. By harming Curley, Lennie puts his and George’s future at the ranch at risk. If Curley were to inform his father about the incident, Lennie and George would be kicked off the ranch and their chances of achieving the American Dream would be ruined. In the text Slim says, “I think you got your han’ caught in a machine. If you don’t tell nobody what happened, we ain’t going to” (Steinbeck 64). This quotation shows that the other ranchers know as well as Lennie and George do what will happen if Curley tells his father what happened. Slim’s command shows that if Curley tells anyone about what Lennie did, then the chances of achieving the American Dream for George and Lennie significantly decreases. A situation that is even more important in decreasing the chances of reaching the American Dream is when George went into town and wasted his money with some of the other men. Even though George seems to want to save up his money to buy the farmhouse, when he goes into town, his actions prove otherwise. If George really wanted to save his money, he would have stayed back at the ranch with Lennie. In the story Crooks says, “An where’s George now? In town in a whore house. That’s where your money’s goin’” (Steinbeck 76). This quotation shows that even though George is determined to reach the American Dream, he is just like most of the other people that try to reach it because he wants to fit in with the others ranchers and ultimately just enjoy himself in the moment instead of thinking about the future. Crooks also says, “Seems like ever’ guy got land in his head” (Steinbeck 75). This quotation shows that when the ranchers assume that they will obtain the money to buy the land, they are more focused on what they want to have in the future than on how they will get it. Crooks’s speculation makes Lennie and Candy think twice about whether or not they can trust George to save the money allowing them to achieve their dream. The event that immediately ends all hope of achieving the American Dream for Lennie, George, and Candy is when George and Candy find Curley’s wife dead. With Lennie now out of the picture, George’s hope to reach the dream completely subsides. In the story George says, “-I think I knowed from the very first. I think I knowed we’d never do her” (Steinbeck 94). This quotation shows that George did not have faith in achieving the dream from the beginning. By Lennie having so much belief in the dream, it made George start to think that they could accomplish it. Without Lennie there to urge him on though, George finally sees the flaws in their plan and how it could never have really taken place. George also says, “He usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would” (Steinbeck 94). George and Lennie always wanted to buy land together so it would be just the two of them and they could live how they chose to. After finding out what was going to happen to Lennie, George could not bear to go out and purchase the property because Lennie was the one that really wanted to get the land and kept the hope of the dream alive. After losing Lennie, George realizes how much Lennie meant to both him and the chances of reaching their American Dream. All of these situations lead to George, Lennie, and Candy not being able to reach the American Dream. As this book proves, sometimes it is not one big event that triggers failure, it could be multiple small situations that lead to not attaining your goals. All of George and Lennie’s actions, from going into town to breaking Curley’s hand, contribute to the fact that they will not be able to achieve their dream. Although this story does not show exactly how life was like living in the past, it does accurately depict that even though a lot of people expect to eventually get their own land and achieve success, only a few will ever be able to accomplish it.
Dreams give people motivation and a sense of hope to not give up when life's hard conditions get in the way of success. In the novella, Of Mice and Men, George Milton has his own “American Dream” where he will live in a house, that he bought with his hard earned money, with Lennie. They will grow their own crops and own farm animals to feed themselves. This dream keeps George motivated to find new jobs when Lennie gets them into trouble. George does not want to give up on working hard and making money on ranches.
Is it possible to achieve the “American dream?” In the novel “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck the main characters Lennie and George to migrant workers dream of owning their own farm and not having to obey to anyone's orders except their own. They flee from Weed because of an incident with Lennie touching a girl's dress and accusing him of rape. They get a job at a ranch outside Weed buckin barley and meet an “old dog” named Candy. Candy and George get to talking and George tells Candy about their “Dream” and Candy says he can help them get the ranch if he gets to come with them. They decide to leave at the end of the mouth but Lennie kills Curley's wife by snapping her neck and George decides to kill Lennie so he doesn't die a slow and
George and Lennie live in a hopeless present but they somehow try to keep a foot in an idealized future. They dream of one day running their own ranch, safe and answerable to no one. Others such as Curley's wife dreams of being a movie star, Crooks, of hoeing his own patch and Candy's couple of acres'.The dream ends with the death of Lennie.
In Of Mice and Men one of the main themes is the idea of the american dream. This is one of the more important themes in the book because it plays such a big role in how each character pursued life, and their dreams show a different side of who they are and what they want from life. Many of the characters talk about what their version of the american dream is. Curley’s wife talks about how she wanted to be a movie star. Candy and George both want to own their own land. Crooks dream is to work in lennie's garden. However it remains only a dream for them and they are awaken by the fact that they can't have the perfect american dream. Another way that this idea is used in the book and by characters is that Lennie and George keep faithful
The American Dream is what everyone so desperately desired for in the 1930’s. Many come to America for the American Dream, to be successful, have freedom, and support their families by the better opportunities given. In Of Mice and Men the movie the setting sets in the 1930’s where Lennie and George become farm workers for Curley’s dad. Working in these conditions in the 1930’s must of been difficult as shown in the movie when Lennie and George face problems in their journey together. What’s your American Dream?
Every person has an American dream, no matter how big or small, everyone has one. Their dreams however, vary from person to person, based on past experiences. While some people will chose to try to own a small farm in California, others will want to go to Hollywood and become an actress. Though American dreams are commonly found in living people they are also able to be within fictional characters as well; such as in Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. Only American dreams can go astray due to problems that were not foreseen. In Of Mice and y Men, Lennie was the unforeseen problem with George, Candy, and his American dream because of his ableism. His mental ableism made him love to touch soft things such as hair, even though he could end
The book shows how different characters are striving for their version of the American Dream and have natural obstacles in their way that they have to overcome to achieve their dreams. Three main characters that have American Dreams, but do not achieve them do to obstacles are Lennie, Curley’s wife, and Candy. All three of these characters worked super hard and did their best, but sometimes the best dreams lead to
George and Lennie, Curley’s wife, and Crooks the stable buck all have an American Dream and through them and their dreams, Steinbeck shows that the American Dream can or cannot be achieved with the amount of dedication and motivation you put into the dream. Even though George and Lennie, Curley’s wife and Crooks all have dreams they are all at different points of achieving that dream, if they are even trying.
The thesis of Kimberley Hearne’s essay “Fitzgerald’s Rendering of a Dream” is at the end of the first paragraph and reads “It is through the language itself, and the recurrent romantic imagery, that Fitzgerald offers up his critique and presents the dream for what it truly is: a mirage that entices us to keep moving forward even as we are ceaselessly borne back into the past (Fitzgerald 189).” Hearne’s essay provides information on the misconception of The American Dream that Fitzgerald conveys through “The Great Gatsby”. She provides countless evidence that expresses Fitzgerald’s view of The American Dream, and explains that Fitzgerald’s writing of the novel is to express to Americans what The American Dream truly is.
The American dream was about being self-sufficient, owning private land and given a chance to start a business with no limitations to success as the migrants lived in a prosperous country. In Of Mice and Men and A Death of a Salesman, Steinbeck and Miller explore the principles of what the American dream actually was. In Of Mice and Men, most of the characters, including George Milton and Lennie Small, have the dream of making themselves become something in the “land of opportunity” and “to have a little land”. In my opinion, George and Lennie have the most ordinary, stock American dream which is what many people who travelled to America in the 1920s were dreaming of. Whereas in A Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman has already achieved beyond the ordinary American dream by having a car, house, loving family and a well-respected job with decent wages but he does not believe he has achieved his version of the American dream, that of his two sons to start a great business together, “The Loman Brothers”. However, both Biff and Linda are more realistic and appreciate that that dream is beyond impossible. Whereas Happy has inherited Willy’s attitude and hopes to accomplish his father’s dream. In the requiem, Happy says, “I’m going to beat this racket!” and this shows that he has not realised that the cause of
The American Dream by default is a selfish and materialistic concept based on an individual having more than his neighbour; and always striving to have more, no matter how much they’ve gained. Of Mice and Men explores the American Dream as an individual seemingly impossible dream evolving into a communal, increasingly realistic future; reshaping the possibility of what the American Dream means to me. Throughout Of Mice and Men there is a multitude of different individual dreams that range in varying levels of stereotypical ideals to small innocent desires, however, when these dreams collide there suddenly becomes hope to even the most hopeless of characters. From the different dreams inside a shared dream – to “Live off the fatta the lan’”
Steinbeck’s naturalistic and unrefined style of writing is. helpful because of its ability to connect with readers. The most important dream in this novel is that of the two main characters, Lennie and George. They are poor, homeless, migrant workers who, although their dream is essentially the same, they both want it for different reasons. They desperately cling to the notion that they are better than other workers who drift from ranch to ranch because, unlike the others, they have a plan for the future and they have each other.
In the novel Of Mice and Men, the theme of reaching for the American Dream runs throughout the entire story. It is evident that all of the characters, especially George and Lennie, want to obtain some form of the American Dream. As they come in contact with other people at the ranch, their thoughts and ideas shift from what they originally set out to do. Multiple situations that occur throughout the story decrease the chances of most of the characters accomplishing the American Dream.
In contrast, Elder envisioned monetary possessions to satisfy people’s desires, but after earning the yearned goal of money, people want to flaunt their new status and adjust their lifestyle. In “America and Americans” by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck describes the many paradoxes that are associated with that change of status. In the process of pretentiously displaying their wealth, people might donate their money to charity or squander their money through other practices, contrasting their initial motive to earn money. Money essentially becomes just another material possession and happiness is found through other actions. The American Dream is not only limited to the money and success, but the actions associated with attaining true happiness.
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