Of mice and Men help?

Megan.Rose..

So i am currently doing a practice question, and the question is how does the rest of the novel present the futility of the american dream? And like, i know what i want to write but i cant really write it, i was just wondering if anyone has any key points that could help? Thankyou! x

Reply 1

tiquismiquis

7

Have you talked about the symbolism of light throughout the novel? The light represents the hope of the american dream. At the end of the novel there is a really cool quote which says "the light climbed on out of the valley" showing at this point the dream is absolutely futile. Early on in the novel, the existing hope of the american dream coming true at the ranch slowly dissolves as represented by the light, such as when Curley's wife blocks out the light at the door. When she dies, there is the quote "the sun streaks were high on the wall by now". From just my personal viewpoint, I think the development of light in the book shows a lot about the american dream's futility. :smile:

hope this helps?

Reply 2

xxKristenxx

13

-Crooks has a broken body and broken possessions which represents broken dreams.
-You could say something about how Curley's Wife was approached by someone and told that she would be 'in the pitchers' but this dream was broken and she ended up marrying Curley.
If I think of more I will say :smile:

hope this helped a bit. I am crapping myself for the exam on Monday

Reply 3

Megan.Rose..

OP

11

Original post by tiquismiquis

Have you talked about the symbolism of light throughout the novel? The light represents the hope of the american dream. At the end of the novel there is a really cool quote which says "the light climbed on out of the valley" showing at this point the dream is absolutely futile. Early on in the novel, the existing hope of the american dream coming true at the ranch slowly dissolves as represented by the light, such as when Curley's wife blocks out the light at the door. When she dies, there is the quote "the sun streaks were high on the wall by now". From just my personal viewpoint, I think the development of light in the book shows a lot about the american dream's futility. :smile:

hope this helps?

Wow! I didnt actually think of that, thankyou so much! xx

Reply 4

Megan.Rose..

OP

11

Original post by xxKristenxx

-Crooks has a broken body and broken possessions which represents broken dreams.
-You could say something about how Curley's Wife was approached by someone and told that she would be 'in the pitchers' but this dream was broken and she ended up marrying Curley.
If I think of more I will say :smile:

hope this helped a bit. I am crapping myself for the exam on Monday

Okay, thankyou so much! And same! x

Reply 5

Galaxie501

15

Wow, think I've done that in 10th Grade, so thats a few years ago. Very sad story tbh.

(Great help).

Reply 6

Lemuelc14

14

Original post by Megan.Rose..

So i am currently doing a practice question, and the question is how does the rest of the novel present the futility of the american dream? And like, i know what i want to write but i cant really write it, i was just wondering if anyone has any key points that could help? Thankyou! x

Can't remember the quote exactly but Lennie says something along the lines of "Both ends the same," he said. "George, why is it both ends the same'. This is clearly a parody on the futility of the American Dream, in the sense that even Lennie is able to acknowledge that 'both ends [are] the same' suggesting that in spite of how hard you work to achieve the American Dream - it all 'ends the same'. :smile:

hope this helps

Reply 7

mellowjoker

2

Have you perhaps thought about the idea of George and Lennie's dream being perfectly obtainable? This is quite ironic as Steinbeck seems to imply that unless you are a healthy white male, everything is left up to fate. The irony comes into it as each of the characters in OMAM have very ambitious (and almost impossible) dreams, for example Curley's wife wants to be an actress - we all know that this will never happen whilst she is under the control and bound to Curley. However, George and Lennie's dream is fairly reachable, it's a tiny dream that COULD actually be achieved. (Ironic as none of the other characters really can achieve their ambitions).

The idea of George and Lennie's dream being perfectly obtainable is based on some simple maths, at one point in the novel (I can't remember where or who says it), it's mentioned that George and Lennie need 300 bucks to buy the land for their farm. George and Lennie each receive fifty bucks a month at the ranch (so they have a combined income of one hundred bucks per month). Candy tells George and Lennie that he has one hundred and fifty bucks saved in the bank and can contribute that, (this means immediately they would have two hundred and fifty bucks) therefore, they would only need to save up another months of wages to buy their land - so let's say overall this process would take 2/3 months, therefore their dream is perfectly in reach!

George and Lennie often talk about the kinds of animals they want on their farm, yet they often only refer to the animals as an individual, for example George says, "perhaps a cow or a goat" - they would only have a singular cow, or a singular goat as well as chickens;
"and if we want a little whiskey, we can sell a few eggs" therefore, their farm would not be very big at all and would be fairly cheap and easy to run.

Considering their dream is so easily obtainable yet never actually achieved, it goes back to the idea of fate and the futility of the American Dream and that perhaps unless you are born of some kind of social status, you are destined for a life of unhappiness and unfulfilled dreams.

This was just one of the ideas I had so I hope this was helpful 😊

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