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

John Steinbeck is one of America's most prominent writers of the twentieth century. By using his hometown and his living experience as the background, he sympathetically describes the hard life of the agricultural workers, immigrants and unemployed people during the Great Depression, and expresses his sympathy towards the hardships of the masses of working people at the bottom of society. He has won the"Pulitzer Prize for fiction"and the"Nobel Prize", which established his status as the world famous writer.Of Mice and Men is published in 1937. It is a short novel of Steinbeck as well as his famous novel. Although it is very short, it can not be underestimated. The plot of the novel is not complicated. It tells about the story which happens on the itinerant workers George and Lennie within three days. George and Lennie's dream is the main line of the story throughout the whole book. They wish they could have their own piece of land through their hard working and live happily and freely on it. This was also the American Dream in many migrant workers'mind. However, this land dream ends up with Lennie's killing of Curley's wife. Through the description of George and Lennie's land dream, Steinbeck reveals that American Dream can no longer be achieved by personal hard working. He uses the Edenic frame to express his own understanding of American dream. As people expelled from the Garden of Eden are hard to go back to that paradise, American Dream in this jungle society is also hard to achieve. However, he still senses hope in American Dream. He hopes people can realize their dream of going back to Garden of Eden through continuously perfecting themselves. This thesis analyzes the novel from the perspective of American Dream, and it is divided into three chapters. The First Chapter introduces the origin of American Dream, its different forms in different periods and its development in American literature. It also introduces Steinbeck's personal interpretation of American Dream in his works. The Second Chapter introduces the social and historical background that produces the main characters'dream, and their land dream in details. It also tells about the significance of their dream. The Third Chapter introduces the reasons for the disillusionment of their dream. One is from the influence of capitalism system; the other is human's imperfection that makes them hard to return to the Garden of Eden. Although their dream is thwarted, Steinbeck sees people's friendship and their commitment to each other as well as their courage to dream in the disillusionment of American Dream, which gives us the readers a glimmer of hope.