Of Mice and Men Dbq Assignment

Of Mice and Men DBQ Assignment In the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, there are many themes present. One of the main themes is Lennie and George’s quest for freedom, a home of their own, and full power over their own life: the American Dream. The phrase “American Dream” is defined as “An American ideal of a happy and successful life to which all may aspire” (Document B). Lennie and George’s dream of the future was one of happiness and success- they could work on their ranch if and when they wanted to. To Lennie, their future is extremely exciting, and he becomes tremendously happy while just thinking about it. Another description of the American Dream is “…that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement” (Document C). Lennie’s disability doesn’t seem to cause a problem with their plan; there is still opportunity for a full life despite his disability. The American Dream, as described by Lennie and George, is “’…a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs and-‘ ‘An’ live off the fatta the lan’,’” (Steinbeck 14). Their dream is a simple, quaint house on a ranch with just enough sustenance for the two of them to live off of. Their dream doesn’t include fame and riches, like most dreams do. Their dream is modest and plain- just enough for them to get by on. George continues on about their dream home on page 57. “’We’d jus’ live there. We’d belong there…. No, sir, we’d have our own place where we belonged and not sleep in no bunk house.’”(Steinbeck 57). They want a simple life where they could feel like they belong and have a sense of “home.” Many things get in the way of achieving their dream. Primarily, their lack of a single place to live is causing many problems. Settling down and having a place of one’s own gives one a sense of belonging. Because George and Lennie skip from town to town and job to job, they never have a single