The American Dream
John Steinbeck is an accomplished writer who captures the plight of people in Salinas's valley who are at the bottom of America's society in the 1930's. In his great book, Of Mice and Men, he depicts two disadvantaged friends who are striving for their own dreams (Associated Press, Online). This American dream they wish to fulfill is one of the many themes in this tragic tale of two best friends. John Steinbeck's themes are realistic, and make Of Mice and Men an American literature masterpiece (Grolier15-16). Steinbeck decided to write this story after reading "To a Mouse", by Robert Burns. Steinbeck finds one of his main themes from Burns' poem: But mouse, you are not alone, in proving foresight may be vain: the best laid scheme of mice and men go often askew, and leaves us nothing but grief and pain, for promised joy! (World Burns Club, Online). Of Mice and Men is a story depicting George and Lennie's life journey. George is a regular man who looks after the delicate partially retarded giant Lennie. Both are trying to make it in the harsh work world, and to ultimately fulfill the dream of owning their own farm. This is hard to come by because Lennie keeps getting in trouble and they both
Forever, people will continue having dreams that they wish to fulfill like George and Lennie. They long for their own little farm that they would tend everyday. George knows that he cannot save Lennie anymore, and that they will never obtain their dream house. Just like the mouse in the poem, George and Lennie's dreams are deferred. George realizes that you cannot keep someone out of trouble forever, especially Lennie, whose only faults are not knowing any better and having a dream (English Resource, Online). In the end, George decides that they cannot keep running, so he puts Lennie out of his misery (Spark Notes, Online). Everything seems to be going perfectly, and their dream is within reach (Steinbeck). This leads to a minor theme, which is loneliness. They join forces with an old man named Candy who decides to give his money to George and Lennie so that they are even closer to their dream, a ranch house of their own. Whether we are of "mice or men" we both have dreams and have dreams that dry up like a raisin. He uses them to develop close relationships between the reader and characters, as well as the readers own dreams and fear of ending up alone. Steinbeck interweaves these key themes together, dreams, friendship, and loneliness, into a tragic novel. It exposes the greatness of having a companion and a common dream, but also the failure of that dream and apprehension of loneliness (Steinbeck 69-113).
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Acceptance Essays
