# data[].attributes.headline
The American Dream:  a reality or an illusion?

# data[].attributes.subject
The American Dream:  a reality or an illusion?

# data[].attributes.body
Of Mice and Men captures the feel of rural America during the Depression. Different outlooks are presented:
--the never-will-be starlet trying to make it to Hollywood,
--the isolated black man born and raised in California,
--a ranch full of men that like to go to whorehouses, play pool, and drink away their earnings
--men that are constantly bouncing from job to job just shy of making ends meet.

The America of Of Mice and Men is populated with dreamers who are constantly struggling to achieve their dreams.

This novella argues that there is no single America. Rather, there are many different groups

(women, blacks, farm workers, farm owners), each with their own unique struggle.

Quote:

GEORGE complained, "…If I was bright, if I was even a little bit smart, I’d have my own little place, an’ I’d be bringin’ in my own crops, ‘stead of doin’ all the work and not getting what comes up outa the ground." (Steinbeck, ##)

# data[].attributes.headline
Which to choose?  Friendship or Isolation...

# data[].attributes.subject
Which to choose?  Friendship or Isolation...

# data[].attributes.body
In this novella, George and Lennie represent THE ideal male friendship.  They don’t talk about how they feel about each other or why they should stay loyal – they just stand by each other, and that’s that.

In contrast, everyone else is isolated from one another.  Everyone seems to get along quite well together by talking about how isolated they are, even though the men on the ranch are constantly together and chatting.

Although they are always together, George and Lennie are isolated from the rest of the world. Friendship is a negative relationship in the novella; every time any character gets close to any other, something goes wrong.

LENNIE exclaimed, "But I wouldn’t eat none, George. I’d leave it all for you. You could cover your beans

with it and I wouldn’t touch none of it." (Steinbeck, 93-95)

VS.

LENNIE whined, "If you don’ want me I can go off in the hills an’ find a cave. I can go away any time." (Steinbeck, ##)

# data[].attributes.headline
Racism, sexism, ageism: just parts of our human nature?  

# data[].attributes.subject
Racism, sexism, ageism: just parts of our human nature?  

# data[].attributes.body
Of Mice and Men deals with many of America’s age-old, hot-button issues, including sexism, racism, ageism, and discrimination against those with disabilities. Most importantly, this prejudice isn’t ever explicitly noted or fought against – those who are discriminated against accept the prejudice against them as a way of life.

Prejudice is a fact of life on the ranch because it was a fact of life everywhere in America at

that time.

Crooks said darkly, "Guys don’t come into a colored man’s room very much." (Steinbeck, ##)

# data[].attributes.body
In Of Mice and Men, dreams, hopes, and plans are the very foundation of what makes life worth living, but they are also double-edged. What does this mean?

The word "dream" is never used in the book in reference to anything like a hope or aspiration.

The characters never regard their hopes as impossible things to

fulfill. Instead, they see them as concrete and realistic plans.

GEORGE said, "O.K. Someday—we’re gonna get the jack together and we’re gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some pigs and ...." (Steinbeck, ##)

# data[].attributes.body
«You go on get outa my room. I ain't wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain't wanted in my room. (...) Cause I'm black. They play cards in there, but I can't play because I'm black.» (Steinbeck, p.101)

# data[].attributes.body
George said, «We'll have a big vegetabke patch and a rabit butch and chickens» (Steinbeck, page 33.)

# data[].attributes.body
George said, «I could eat any place I want, hotel or any place, and order any damn thing I could think of. An' I could do all that every damn month. Get a gallon of whisky, or set in a pool room and play cards or shoot pool.» (Steinbeck, 29

# data[].attributes.body
«Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no fambly. They don't belong no place. They come to a ranch an' work up a stake and then they go into town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they're poundin' their tail on some other ranch. »

# data[].attributes.body
If I was bright, if I was even a little bit smart, I'd have my own little place, an' I'd be bringin' in my own crops, 'stead of doin' all the work and not getting what comes up outa the ground." (Steinbeck 65)

# data[].attributes.body
"I ain't got no people," George said. "I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain't no good. They don't have no fun. After a long time they get mean. They get wantin' to fight all the time." (P.67 Steinbeck)

# data[].attributes.body
"Sure," said George. "All kin's a vegetables in the garden, and if we want a little whisky we can sell a few eggs or something, or some milk. We'd jus' live there. We'd belong there. There wouldn't be no more runnin' round the country and gettin' fed by a Jap cook. No, sir, we'd have our own place where we belonged and not sleep in no bunkhouse." (Steinbeck, 9 )

# data[].attributes.body
"…You go on get outta my room. I ain’t wanted in the bunk house, and you ain’t wanted in my room."

"Why ain’t you wanted?" Lennie asked.

"’Cause I’m black…" (Steibeck,152)

# data[].attributes.body
Then—it’s all off?" Candy asked sulkily. George didn’t answer his question. George said, "I’ll work my month an’ I’ll take my fifty bucks an’ I’ll stay all night in some lousy cat house. Or I’ll set in some poolroom til ever’body goes home. An’ then I’ll come back an’ work another month an’ I’ll have fifty bucks more." (P.131 Steinbeck)

# data[].attributes.body
George said softly, "—I think I knowed from the very first. I think I knowed we'd never do her. He usta like to hear about it so much I got to thinking maybe we would." (Steinbeck P.131)

# data[].attributes.body
"George can tell you screwy things, and it don't matter It's just the talking. It's just bein' with another guy. That's all." (137, steinbeck)