Examples Of The American Dream In Of Mice And Men

American Dream: the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. As prodigious as that sounds, that dream cannot always be fulfilled. The American Dream is fantasized by predominantly lower class workers to mislead themselves into thinking that they can reach any goal that they set for themselves. In the novel, Steinbeck uses this delusion in the novel, Of Mice and Men, to distract the characters from the era that they are in. This makes Curley’s wife, Candy, George, and Lennie delusional romantics. John Steinbeck uses characterization in his novel Of Mice and Men to reinforce the elusive American Dream. The first example Steinbeck uses in his novel is Curley’s wife. Curley’s wife believed that she should have been bound for Hollywood. Curley’s wife says, “‘I tell you I ain’t use to livin’ like this. I coulda made somethin’ of myself’” (Steinbeck 88). She is explaining that her life should have been different and that she should be living somewhere nicer rather than on a farm. This resembles the American Dream because she thinks that she is capable of being a big star. Another source states, “Her dream is cannot be fulfilled unless she finds freedom from her controlling husband, Curley” (“The American Dream in Of Mice and Men”). This is implying that society in the early 1900s is controlled by men. She could not fulfill her dream because of her controlling husband, …show more content…
Candy is very scared that he is going to be kicked off the farm that he is currently working at because he cannot do much to help out. Candy is skeptical about his future and his American Dream is to have a sense of freedom and security (“The American Dream in Of Mice and Men”). In the end, Candy is not able to fulfill his American Dream and he gives up