Comparing The American Dream In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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In the book, Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck during 1930s, the theme of book is the American Dream. The American Dream is the opportunity to achieve prosperity through hard work. The main characters are George Milton and Lennie Small, their American Dream is to own their own farm, but does not go as planned. In the book, Steinbeck’s message regarding the American Dream is, even if you may work really hard sometimes the dream will not come true. In the book Steinbeck to says, "I seen hundreds of men come by on the road an' on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an' that same damn thing in their heads. Hundreds of them. They come, an' they quit an' go on; an' every damn one of 'em's got a little piece of land in his head. …show more content…
Also, this caused George to lose hope of owning the farm. The Great Depression was time during the 1930s where America suffered economically. Steinbeck chooses to use the line from “To a Mouse” written by Robert Burns, as the title of this novel. The poem is about a mouse who plans to stay in man’s house during the winter and the man kicks out the mouse, and the man observes the freedom that a mouse has. The mouse does not have to worry about what will come for him and just lives in the now. The man realizes that humans are kept in the mentality of always having to worry about the past and the future, and never living in the present. Burns also explains that when you have a plan it will not always go as you would think it would of gone, and that is why the Burns says, “The best laid schemes of mice and men Oft go awry.” The way the quote fits with the book is that George is the men who do not have hope and always worries about the past and the future, and does not live in the present. Lennie is the mice who does not worry about the past or the future, and just lives in the present. This quote goes with the book because it talks about a dream that does not go as