Comparing The American Dream In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

The novel Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, is set near Soledad, California during the mid-1930s. It is a despondent place where all attempts at achieving one’s dreams seem futile. Wages during this time are low and many are living in poverty. Good work is hard to come by and success in one’s work even harder. This novel scrutinizes the American Dream, the idea that with hard work, determination, and drive anyone can accomplish wealth and success. With this ideal comes the overwhelming unfulfillment when an individual fails to reach his or her objective. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck explores defeated hope and the impossibility of the American Dream. George exemplifies someone whose hope has been defeated. Throughout his life he has been hopping from one job to the next, never seeming to settle. This game of hop-scotch, caused by his companion Lennie, has left them with little money and no resources to buy the ranch of their dreams. Though Lennie was the origin of their shortcomings, when he dies George does not have the motivation to pursue their dream anymore; his hope and drive left him with Lennie. George resigns himself to …show more content…
Candy is crippled from an unknown accident that caused him to lose his hand limiting his opportunities to achieve his dreams. As he grows older and more useless, he also starts to fear that the ranch will let him go once he can no longer clean. So when George and Lennie invite him to come to live with them on the ranch, his heart swells with hope that he would have a place to belong after the ranch. He throws his lot in with them and for once it seems like his dream is within his grasp. Far too quickly though it comes crumbling down around him with Lennie’s death. As his hope leaves him, he resigns himself to his previous fate; an unsteady job swamping at the ranch until he is