Of mice and Men Essays (729 words) - English-language Films

Of Mice and Men takes place in the 1930?s in America during the Great Depression. Before the Great Depression America was known as the land of opportunities the place where all could find their American Dream, but now the American dream is vanished, and the ideal land has become the land of misfortune. The Great Depression was a worldwide economic recession that led to numerous bank failures, high-unemployment, as well as dramatic drops in industrial production, and stock market share prices. The book ?Of Mice and Men? shows the harsh reality of the American Dream in the Great Depression. The two main characters are best friends, George Milton and Lennie Small who are poor homeless migrant workers, doomed to a life of wandering and labor in which they are never able to gain the fruits of their labor and are on the run looking for a job. George is a "small and quick," man, who may sometimes seem like he hates Lennie and doesn?t like his company, but really he is very devoted to him. Lennie is "a huge man," who is somewhat mentally retarded, and worships George's every word. Their main goal in life is to "get the jack together," purchase a few acres of land they can call their own, "an' live off the fatta the lan'.? This is their dream and their dream, however, cannot exist without friendship. The constant repetition of the way things will be is what keeps the dream alive in Lennie. George needs Lennie just as much as Lennie needs him; how else could George keep the dream alive, but at the end of the novel George seems to lose sight of his dream. When George kills Lennie at the end of the novel to save Lennie from the torture he would endure, he also kills the friendship, the light of their American Dream. George Steinbeck doesn?t stop there when portraying the ways in which the characters of the book cannot achieve their ?American Dream?, all the characters have a dream, and wish to change their lives in some fashion; but none are capable of doing so. Curley's wife longs to experience the world for herself. She is a prisoner in her own home, powerless to change her fate. She has already had her dream of being an actress pass her by and now must live a life of empty hope after her marriage with Curley, who doesn't love her. Through Crooks, Steinbeck exposes the bitterness, the anger, and the helplessness of the black American who struggles to be recognized as a human being, instead being stuck as a lower person in the eyes of a racist America. All he wants is to be let alone, and have a place of his own. The color of skin does not spare anyone in the fall of the American Dream all share the despair of wanting to change the way they live and attain something better. Even Slim, despite his wisdom and confidence, has nothing to call his own. He will remain a migrant worker until his death. Slim is different from the others in the fact that he does not seem to over-expect. He is not beaten by a dream because unlike the others he doesn?t set his sights on a dream; he seems to have reached the sad conclusion that to dream leads to despair. Candy, who has lost his hand, dreams of a place, which he can call his own. He wants somewhere he can live a quiet life all his own. He tries to achieve this with his saved earnings, doing a bit of kitchen work and gardening, but yet again, he is a victim of his unfulfilled dream. Dreams are a significant theme in Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. Nevertheless, the dream is never fulfilled, and the characters who have counted on it are the ones who are the most devastated. Slim's comfort at the end "You hadda George", indicates the sad truth that one has to surrender one's dreams in order to survive, which is not the easiest thing to do in America, the Land of Promise. Steinbeck doesn?t believe that at anyone could really reach and succeed their ?American Dream?,