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

Many authors have addressed the topic of the American Dream and what it means to be successful, and many have criticized it. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays the 1920s as a time decay caused by decadence and indulgence that ultimately corrupted the American Dream into the desire for money and pleasure rather than more noble goals. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck shows how the American Dream doesn’t always work out through the story of migrant workers in California during the 1930s. Along with Fitzgerald and Steinbeck, Arthur Miller’s message about the American Dream is also one of disapproval. Death of a Salesman is a stark criticism of the power of the American Dream, indicating that although it can be very inspirational, it also instills the wrong values in people and causes them to lose themselves in the chase for superficial and unlikely success. …show more content…
Ben’s story of success is always told the same way: he “Walked into a jungle, and comes out, the age of twenty-one, and he's rich!”( ). Willy sees success as something that will come naturally to those with personality and popularity without much grit; however, that is not the case at all. Ben’s story is a representation that the American dream is very much taking a shot in the dark, working hard, and putting everything into with the hope, but no guarantee, of finding success. Ben also exemplifies the animalistic qualities required to achieve this American Dream, especially when he says, “Never play fair with a stranger. You’ll never make it out of the jungle that way” ( ). The story of Dave Singleman also inspires Willy’s delusions about success. Willy tells Howard