Of Mice and Men Speech
The American Dream and The Great Depression – How are these 2 elements reflected in John Steinbeck’s novel “Of Mice & Men” and how do they shape the characters in the book in particular, Lennie and Curley’s Wife. I have chosen the 2 elements The American Dream and The Great Depression because they are both similar and strive for a positive outcome, I will speak about how the American Dream shapes Lennie and how the Great Depression shapes Curley’s wife.
The American Dream is a fantasy of an ideal life which differs from person to person. But what is this dream? Wealth? Power? Fame? Or just personal success? Either way they all have elements of unreality because not everyone will realize their dream. What kind of chance does Lennie seriously have of fulfilling his dream with his level of intelligence and lack of skills?
For example, Lennie’s American Dream is to settle down to a nice place and “to tend the rabbits” “An live off the fatta the lan!” Lennie shouted eagerly”
“An have rabbits. Go on George”
However, given Lennie’s obvious small mindedness throughout the book and his total reliance on George it is unlikely he would ever be able to realize his dream even though he is very cautious and tries to always protect that dream. Lennie’s handling of mice is evidence of his small mindedness particularly in this instance “ ‘What you want a dead mouse, anyways?’ ‘I could pet it with my thumb while we walked along’ said Lennie”
The Great Depression brought 2 things to America, poverty and irrational hope. Everybody would know what poverty means. However what is irrational hope? Irrational hope led people to believe that no matter your circumstance you could always make it big one day regardless of your skill level. But the Americans at the time obviously did not call it irrational hope; they referred to it as ‘Rags to Riches’. While it may be irrational it is not impossible. America has produced many wealthy people who have lived
The American Dream is a fantasy of an ideal life which differs from person to person. But what is this dream? Wealth? Power? Fame? Or just personal success? Either way they all have elements of unreality because not everyone will realize their dream. What kind of chance does Lennie seriously have of fulfilling his dream with his level of intelligence and lack of skills?
For example, Lennie’s American Dream is to settle down to a nice place and “to tend the rabbits” “An live off the fatta the lan!” Lennie shouted eagerly”
“An have rabbits. Go on George”
However, given Lennie’s obvious small mindedness throughout the book and his total reliance on George it is unlikely he would ever be able to realize his dream even though he is very cautious and tries to always protect that dream. Lennie’s handling of mice is evidence of his small mindedness particularly in this instance “ ‘What you want a dead mouse, anyways?’ ‘I could pet it with my thumb while we walked along’ said Lennie”
The Great Depression brought 2 things to America, poverty and irrational hope. Everybody would know what poverty means. However what is irrational hope? Irrational hope led people to believe that no matter your circumstance you could always make it big one day regardless of your skill level. But the Americans at the time obviously did not call it irrational hope; they referred to it as ‘Rags to Riches’. While it may be irrational it is not impossible. America has produced many wealthy people who have lived