How Of Mice and Men Showcases the Impossibility to Achieve the True American Dream. The idea of what the American Dream truly is differs with each individual, which ultimately adds to the impossibility in acquiring the success of such a goal. In the novel Of Mice and Men, it's apparent that, at some point, that each character admits to dreaming of a different life.
Before the death of Curly's wife, she confesses to her long lost dream of becoming a movie star. Crooks, though seen as bitter and malevolent, desires to hoe a patch of garden in the fantasy farm of Lennie's, and Candy grips to George's idea of owning the same couple of acres that Lennie grown to love. Though in the end, most, if not all, of the characters far-fetched fantasies have been taken cleanly away from them. For instance, Curly's wife stepped solemnly into a marriage that she did not want, ultimately ruining her dream to be looked as an icon. What makes all these dreams typically American is the wish for untarnished, unrealistic success and happiness set to the standards of the American life. Courtney Martin in the TedTalk The New American Dream explains how many see typical success as being rich, with a family, and having a sustainable job. The stereotypical dream, although not bad, relates closely to the fantasy of the characters in Of Mice and Men, as the see success as only things similar to what it is seen as now. As Crooks said, "such paradises of freedom, contentment, and safety are not to be found in this world", which he says truthfully and correctly about such high standard dreams of Americans in today's, and centuries ago, society. |
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