Megan O'Donnell Of Mice and Men

12/12/10 Hogan 10R

The American Dream has always been a part of human desire, but impossible to achieve in most situations such as the ones found in John Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men. The American Dream is proven to be unattainable in this tragedy by author John Steinbeck. Steinbeck capitalized character augmentation of the protagonists, plot development, and character development of the fellow workers on the farm to display to his readers how unattainable the American Dream truly is. Throughout the novel, Of Mice and Men, protagonists George Milton and Lennie Small make references to their dream. They constantly refer to owning a farm and how they are going to "live off the fat of the land" (p. 14, Steinbeck). These nomadic men are saving their money and working hard to get a "little place with ten acres" where Lennie can tend to the rabbits. In the end of the novel, George shoots Lennie thus resulting in the end of the possibility of them attaining the American Dream. For the duration of the novel we see the recurring idea of the American Dream. The novel follows the story of George Milton and Lennie Small through their nomadic path to the dream. Lennie has a habit of getting into large amounts of trouble that make them leave whereever they are working. One incident that is referred to numerous times in the novel is the incident in Weed where Lennie accidently killed a woman. Lennie is reffered to as having done this several times which reveals that he doesn't learn from his mistakes and foreshadows that he will repeat this action. This

foreshadow we know to be true when it occured in chapter 5 when Lennie killed the boss's son's wife. In the end, George kills Lennie because Lennie doesn't behave as he should according to society. This ends George's chance at the American Dream. Plot development can reveal large amounts of what is going to happen in the end of a novel and can also reveal what an author is saying about a specific subject such as the American Dream. Lennie speaks with numerous characters in the book, specifically Curley's wife and Crooks. Curley's wife illustrates how she has had a lifelong desire of being a movie star. "He says he was gonna put me in the movies. Says I was a natural" (p. 88 Steinbeck). This quote explains what Curley's wife confided in Lennie. Curley's wife knows that she can not leave Curly to obtain this dream, which makes it unattainable for her. Crooks also saw the farm that Lennie and George visioned. Crooks, being a negro, is unable to achieve the American Dream. He was injured while working on the farm and is limited in what he can do. This makes the dream unattainable for Crooks as well. All of these disadvantages remind the reader of how unattainable the American Dream is. The American Dream is elusive to many who try to attain it. This was exhibited throughout the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck in the form of protagonist development, plot augmentation, and further characterization of the other workers. The characters in the essay are portrayed as average humans. There is a correlation between the depression we are in and the depression during Of Mice and Men. There is

hope for our generation, but considering the similarity between the 1930s and the 2010s, it will be difficult to achieve the American Dream.