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The American Dream:  a reality or an illusion?

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The American Dream:  a reality or an illusion?

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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, ##)

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Which to choose?  Friendship or Isolation...

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Which to choose?  Friendship or Isolation...

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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, ##)

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Racism, sexism, ageism: just parts of our human nature?  

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Racism, sexism, ageism: just parts of our human nature?  

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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, ##)

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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, ##)

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In a dreamy conversation he has with his old friend Lennie, George passionately describes how he dreams of a better place.   George  exclaimed, : rfwfwefwqefwefweefwewefwqefwefqwefÈ.  (Steinbeck, 29)
George is motivted bythis futrrue of freedom to choose how and where heèll spend his money. These plans may seem ridicuklous becuase he has no money and he is dirt poor. But that vision of the future helps G get throuhg his awful everyday lieefe.

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George and Lennie's vision of freedom p.33

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George and Lennie's vision of freedom p.33

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Travelling with someone during the great depression

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Travelling with someone during the great depression

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p.65

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p.65

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1.  set the scene
2.  speaker tag
3.  short focused quote
4.  page reference

ANALYSIS!!!!!!!   (EXPLANATION of the link between quote and the theme

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well we ain't got any......Jus' keep me shovin' all over the country all the time."

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ok. someday.....No…you tell it. It ain't the same if I tell it. Go on…George. How I get to tend the rabbits."

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sure said george......No, sir, we'd have our own place where we belonged and not sleep in no bunk house."

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when candy spoke....reprenhensible

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they fell into a silence...... in was coming true