Of Mice and Men By John Steinbeck Essay -- English Literature

Of Mice and firearmpower By John Steinbeck1. How significant is the theme of loneliness in Of Mice and Men?2. To what extent is it correct that The Great Gatsby, Death of a Salesman and Of Mice and Men explore important, but different aspects of The American Dream?3. What is the importance of dreams and dreaming to the success of Of Mice and Men?A. Background InformationDescribe the historical background to the refreshed i.e. the USA in themid/late 1930sThe USA of the mid and late 1930 was still suffering from the GreatDepression. Many thousands were unemployed and had lost their homes.These nation would often wander around the country, searching for jobsand a place to rest. John Steinbeck clearly give awaylines the lives ofthese men, traveling around from one job to the next, in his book OfMice and Men.The printing had been caused by the stock market crash in 1929. MostAmericans blamed President Hoover because he had been the President atthe time and did know what to do about it. The Midwest suffered yetmore as the dust bowl crisis came into play. As the employees weredependant on their jobs employers could easily cut wages or even makethem move at their will. When Roosevelt came into office he initiatedmany government programs supporting the suffering Americans.B. SummaryWrite a plot summaryGeorge Milton and Lennie Small, 2 migrant workers, arrive south ofSoledad and spend a night next to Salinas River. As the two settledown it becomes clear that Lennie, a tall man with a shapeless face,has some sort of mental disability while George is relatively shortand bets rather intelligent. Lennie also seems dependant of George ashe looks out for him and helps h... ...ackground and makes a fortune. This stilldoes not enable him to reach what he is actually longing for, his loveDaisy. He has no reputation and does not belong to the Americanaristocracy and exactly that is what keeps him from fulfilling hisdream. At last he dies in protecting Daisy. This s eems extremelyunfair and is clearly a criticism on this aspect of the AmericanDream.All of these three different books have given different views on theAmerican Dream and spotlighted on different aspects of it. Everysingle one of these aspects is as important as the other ones nomatter whether they are critical or have a positive message towardsthe American Dream. Some of these seem to overlap and contradict butoverall it becomes very clear when looking at all three pieces ofwriting what the flaws of the American Dream are and what is sospecial about it.