The American Dream

The American Dream

In the 1920's the American dream was too work hard and earn yourself a good living. In the book Of Mice and Men the American dream is simplified to the dreams of two men and this dream eventually seduces two more characters, their dream is to get a little bit of land, own crops and animals and live off of the land. It is a simple dream, one of self reliance. But what is the reality of the situation? What was the American dream back then? What are the dreams of the other characters? And what does this book teach us about the American dream?

Of Mice and Men is about the death of the American dream. "O.K Someday – we're gonna get the jack together and we're gonna have a little house and a couple of acres and a cow and some pigs and We'll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit-hunch and chickens. And when it rains in the winter we'll just say the hell with goin' to work, and we'll build up the fire in the stove and set around it an' listen to the rain comin' down on the roof." Does such a dream differ from that of any other American? All they want is a place to call home, the opportunity to work for themselves, and to be happy. Is that not our "god" given rights as Americans? The right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Life is represented by the farm, liberty is represented by the idea of working for yourself without anything being taken away or being told what to do, and the idea of being happy is obviously the pursuit of happiness. George and Lennie think that they are different from other workers who wander around aimlessly because they think they have a future. Does that make them different? Because they have a future? The two men are not unique for wanting a place and a life of their own; they are unique because they have each other. The companionship they share opposes the loneliness that comes with being a ranch worker, and if we dive into a larger spectrum, the loneliness of being the segregated black man who just wants equality or the objectified woman who once aspired to be an actress. Characters like Crooks and Curley's wife should be perfect examples that they are no different from anyone who has a dream.

This book tells of a bleak existence that in the end will teach us a grim lesson about human nature and the otherwise meaningless pursuit of the American dream. But the truth is that the common American had more integrity back then, they didn't like the idea of handouts or being told what to do by a higher authority, the mind set was that one would do what he wanted when he wanted, "S'pose they was a carnival or a circus