Essay about The American Dream in Of Mice and Men by John Stienbeck

In John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, the theme of the American dream is very present. John makes it known that Lennie and George want their dreams to come true and to “live off the fat of the land”. He does this by showing them repeatedly fantasizing about what life could be. While having this dream as a recurring theme in the novel serves to inspire us as the audience he also makes it known that it is hard to reach those goals as in his novel he refutes the American dream. He makes an argument for the struggle of social mobility which is that the American dream in most cases stays a fantasy and for the men in the story this is true. While arguing this he also starts to create a hierarchy on the farm and this plays well with the argument of the struggle of social mobility because it argues that some people like Curley are just lucky. Steinbeck uses his characters such as Curley to show the hierarchy of social class on the farm and uses Crooks, Curley’s wife, Lennie, and George to show the struggle to move up in the class system through the obstacles they face.

Steinbeck starts creating this hierarchy early in the book through Curley and his dad’s clothing. Steinbeck chooses to say “He wore high heeled boots and spurs to prove he was not a labouring man” pg 20. By the author acknowledging that the boss was not a laboring man, he makes it known that Curley’s dad does not do manual labor leaving him to be in an upper class. Curley’s dad’s outfit also suggests that the father has money to spend on careless things like fancy boots and we see that his placement in the social class allows him these luxuries. While describing Curley these boots are brought up again as Steinbeck describes “ like the boss he wore high heeled boots” pg 25. These boots that the two men wear suggest that they have wealth, and when looking at Lennie and George the effect is the opposite. John Steinbeck describes the two boys as “both wore black, shapeless hats and both carried tight blanket rolls slung over their shoulders” pg 2. Here the author describes what Lennie and George have on and instead of having a detail such as high heeled boots they have the fact that they carry tight blanket rolls on their shoulders and wear shapeless hats. These details show that Lennie and George are low on the class pyramid as they need these blankets to sleep on. The hats tell us that they are poor since they settle with wearing worn hats because they are not financially stable to buy new ones. By comparing both of these men’s clothes we can infer that one is wealthier than the other.

Another way Steinbeck creates this hierarchy is the way Curley and his dad interact with the rest of the people on the farm. One example of this is “The boss gives him hell when he’s mad” pg 20. When he gets angry he is allowed to take it out on others and is unstoppable as he holds the power to fire them. This in turn instills fear into their workers and is a vital part of why the boss stays in power. An example of Curley enacting force would be “He don’t have to take after Lennie. Lennie didn’t do nothing to him” pg 26. Here George is talking about how Curley picks on Lennie and instantly sees him as prey. We later see him attack his prey as on pg 62 “ His eyes slipped on past and lighted on Lennie; and Lennie was still smiling with delight”. When the crew was making fun of Curley, Curley got intimidated and instantly looked for the biggest guy in the room to assert his dominance. This aspect of Curley was also shown on page 26 when Candy says “Curley’s like a lot of the little guys. He hates the big guys”. Looking at the way Curley and his father treat the people below them they instantly fill their roles as being the superior. Through Curley and his father, Steinbeck builds this hierarchy and while doing this he also makes a statement that because Curley was born into a higher class he stayed in it and did not have to face obstacles like the rest of the characters in the story.

By putting this hierarchy in place the author makes it known that there are levels to the farm. The people below the bosses are Crooks, Lennie, George, and Curley’s wife among others. Looking at these characters allows us to see the struggle in moving up in the social class pyramid that Steinbeck has created. He does this by bringing in the character of Crooks as Crooks 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'' pg 74. This quote can be viewed as Crooks being cynical but he speaks from past experiences and does not want these men to go down the same path he’s seen many others go down. Crooks also goes on to list a reason why these things never work out going on to say “An where’s George now? In town in a whore house. That’s where your money’s goin” pg 76. By the author having Crooks note that George might be wasting money he argues that once they use all of their money their fantasy is gone and the dream is unachievable. These two points can be seen as a struggle as many people might have the idea in their heads but things like expenses become an obstacle. Another example of the struggle in moving to a new social class is the example of Curley’s wife. This is shown through “I tell you I aint used to livin like this I coulda made somethin’ of myself” pg 88. While her dream was pursuing acting, after not receiving a letter for her to be in the movies she accused her mother of sabotaging it. After this, she resulted in marrying Curley to move up to his class. This can be interpreted as family might let you down and that there is always someone praying on your downfall. Unlike Curley, Crooks and Curley’s wife have obstacles that keep them from moving upward and this is how Steinbeck shows the struggle.

Along with the reasons mentioned before, the struggle to move between social classes could also be seen through Lennie. Steinbeck uses Lennie as a hindrance to George’s ascension because it reflects the real-life struggle of family and how they play into moving up in the classes. Throughout the story, we view scenes that lead us to infer that these boys are family because of the way they care for each other. One example of this is after George got mad at Lennie Lennie begins to say “ If you don’t want me, you only jus’ got to say so, and I’ll go off in those hills right there” pg 13. After saying this George replies with “I want you to stay with me, Lennie” pg 13 this line reveals that George deeply cares for Lennie even after he messed up their last job. This resembles a struggle as George’s family is important and he wants them around even if their actions hurt his career. By having Lennie as a problematic character that wants a dream the ending of the story has a new meaning, since when George kills Lennie he says “Look down there acrost the river, like you can almost see the place” pg 106. Here Steinbeck signifies that the place these boys have dreamed of is just over the river and by George killing Lennie he ultimately kills their dream together. Here again, we see that unlike Curley who was able to be born into an upper class they have to struggle.

Steinbeck keeps the theme of the struggle for social mobility over the American dream because during those times hope was already lost in America. In the farm, he establishes a hierarchy that allows the characters of the farm to be seen in reference to the bosses. This was important to add because it added depth to the characters. He gives multiple examples of the obstacles each character faces and never lets them move up through the story. The topic of the struggle was chosen because of the baggage these characters carry. This baggage that follows these characters keeps them from reaching something greater and overall gives a true look into the dark and gritty of the American dream.