The American Dream in Of Mice and Men Essay Example

Freedom includes the opportunity for success if you work hard as various men did all over the world when achieving the American dream. When the first settlers arrived, immigrants dreamed of a better life in America. People went there to escape from persecution or poverty, and to make a new life for themselves or their families. In the novel Of mice and men by John Steinbeck, George and Lennie are immigrant workers that go farm to farm in search of a ranch to work at. This is difficult for them to find a ranch to stay at because Lennie is mentally disabled. It is hard for him to get along with anyone other than George. Their dream is to own their own farm with animals to tend for and plants to grow.  The failure of the American dream is a key topic displayed in the text through Curley’s wife and Candy.

The book Of Mice and Men shows how unhappy Curleys wife truly is with little to no freedom and feels more like a possession that Curley owns more than his own wife. Instead of being on the farm isolated, She believes she could have become a big-time movie star.  In the text, Curley’s wife says that she  “Coulda been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes—all them nice clothes as they wear. An’ I coulda sat in them big hotels, an’ had pitchers took of me. When they had their previews I coulda went to them, an’ spoke in the radio, an’ it wouldn’t cost me a cent because I was in the pitcher.” (Steinbeck 88). If she didn’t marry curly she assumes that she would have been a famous woman in Hollywood. She would have also maybe have found true love. Curley’s wife only married Curley because of the fact that he gave her safety and security. She was in fear that if she didn’t marry she would be homeless after leaving her family. Once she married Curley she lost all freedom and respect. She was known as Curley’s wife and not by her name. She also couldn’t socialize with the other men on the land because that would be cheating.  Curley’s wife also felt that she was isolated from others. Curley made everyone’s rules of what they can do with his wife and where they can go with his wife. she stated 'You can talk to people, but I can't talk to nobody but Curley, else he gets mad. How'd you like not to talk to nobody '” (Steinbeck 87). He declared that she can only talk to him because she is the only female on the farm so he is scared people will easily try to flirt with her and steal her. If he catches any of the farmworkers looking at his wife often times he will threaten to beat them up or sometimes even beat them up. Curley’s wife dreams to be a famous star but ends up as a lonely housewife on the farm.

Another person whose American dream fell short was Candy. Candy’s American Dream is to be a part of Lennie and George’s farm or have a farm of his own. He says he " could of hoed in the garden and washed dishes for them guys. If they were a circus or a baseball game... An' they'd of been a pig and chickens... an' in the winter... the little fat stove... an' the rain comin.'" (Steinbeck 59). Candy wants to get security and safety. But because of his age, he never got to fulfill his dream and is now just an old man. Candy also had one hand so he would work slower and less efficiently than anyone else on the ranch. This was a problem if he wanted to join into George and Lennie’s dream because he “ain’s much good with on’y one hand.” (Steinbeck 59). He ended up making a deal with George that if he lets him join in he will give them three hundred dollars total for them to start the farm together.

In the text of mice and men, The American dream was shown to be a failure in numerous ways. Two people that had a failed American dream were Curley’s wife and Candy. Curley’s wife wanted to be a movie star but ended up being a housewife and Candys dream was to become a part of Lennie and Georges idea of having their own farm. That dream was cut off due to the fact that George killed Lennie.