In this text I am going to write about how John Steinbeck views on the American Dream. He is the author of "Of Mice and Men", and the American Dream is a central theme in this book. I chose this task because I found it the most interesting and I wanted to write about this subject. George and Lennie live in California in the 1930s. This is during the Great Depression, and they dream of owning a farm. The excitement in the book is tied to whether they will make it or not.
First of al we see this in the two main charcters, George and Lennie. They dream of having a farm, and they work really hard to make enough money. Unfortunately, their hard work do not help and their dream ends with tragedy. We can read about their dream on page 55, and we see how it ends in the last pages of the book. Here Lennie was killed after he got in trouble.
Another person with dreams that do not come true is Curley's wife. She is married to Curley, who is the boss' son. Curley's wife dreams of being an actress and to be really famous. For instance she talks about her dreams on page 77 and 78. Instead of being famous, she lives on a farm, as the only woman, and her life seems pretty boring. She doesn't even get a name in the book and this says something about her position in the story.
The last character I will focus on is Crooks. He is an Afro-American stable buck. Crooks hopes that one day Afro-Americans and White people can have the same rights and opportunites. I think John Steinbeck uses Crooks as an symbol for showing that Afro-Americans did not have the same possibilities to live out their dreams.
To conclude I think Steinbecks message is that everybody do not have the same chances to live out their dreams. For example, a poor man have not the same opportunities as a rich man
(1) Wisegeek.com
Sources:
- Of Mice and Men. Here you can read about the book.
- wisegeek.com
