The American Dream Theme in Of Mice and Men Essay Sample

In the narrative, recollections are important, and each character has joyful or troubling memories of past experiences. George reminisces on his and Lennie's childhood. When George recalls Lennie's Aunt Clara, he becomes enraged and tells Lennie why they had to depart Weed. George tells Slim about the day he told Lennie to jump in the river despite the fact that he didn't know how to swim. Lennie 'He damn near drowned before we could get him. An' he was so damn nice to me for pullin' him out. Clean forgot I told him to jump in.'

Lennie takes solace in hearing about the dream and how he plans to cultivate alfalfa and care for the rabbits. Lennie has trouble remembering many things, but he does recall George's description of their own home; the dream provides him joy. Lennie remembers Aunt Clara giving him a piece of velvet to pet at the conclusion of the novel, and later, after killing Curley's wife, he has a vision of his Aunt Clara scolding him. Aunt Clara is depicted with 'thick bull's-eye glasses' and a 'gingham apron with pockets,' illustrating how deeply she is ingrained in Lennie's mind.

Crooks recalls happy moments when his dad owned a chicken ranch and when ‘white kids came to play at our place’. Curley's wife has painful memories of her dream of being in the movies being shattered when she never heard from the "guy" she met who promised it. She accuses her mother of intercepting his letter, and she marries Curley as a form of retaliation.

During the time of the Great Depression, work was scarce. The itinerant farm labourers desperately sought work and travelled large distances. The men rarely talk about their past lives, living day-to-day for survival. The workers would dream of getting a nicer job and having better working conditions and memories of life before the great depression would start pouring into their head.

The social hierarchy on the ranch is reflective of American society of the time. Crooks, being a black man, is at the bottom of the social hierarchy and he knows his place, even though he recalls happier times. He tells Lennie that now he is the only black person on the ranch and that there is only one other black ‘family in Soledad’, possibly suggesting that others have been forced to move away. This shows that racism played a huge factor in the olden days and black people were heavily disadvantaged leading them to be forced to shift out and live in a community with other black people.

The American Dream features throughout the novel and several characters, such as Curley’s wife, recall how their dream of becoming a movie star could come true if the man had called her back. She was devastated at that moment of time and whenever something goes wrong she mentions it. “If i made it to hollywood I would not be facing this issue” and the memories of her adventure start to come back to her.