Alexander Sim12/19/10English 8AMs. Wood

Not All of the Mice Got the Cheese

! The American Dream is something that many people often associated, and

associate, with America. It consists of the freedom and liberty that the country promises

and the possibility of a successful and prosperous life. One aspect of the American

Dream that creates a dichotomy between the upper and middle economic classes and

the lower economic class is the concept of home or property ownership. In John

Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck seems to be using his literary skill as a

form of commentary about how the American Dream was extremely difficult to reach

during the Great Depression, no matter how hard one exerted themselves. Steinbeck

reflects this ideology through George and Lennie’s hopeful dream, Candy and Crook’s

immediate captivation, and the novella’s symbolic title. By using these four aspects of

his novella, John Steinbeck effectively captures the difficulty in attaining a life that the

American dream promises during the time of the Great Depression.

! The first method in which Steinbeck alludes to the difficulty of the American

dream during the Great Depression is through the unreached dream of protagonists

George and Lennie. This novella revolves largely around George and Lennie’s primary

life goal, which is to “have a little house and a couple of acres an’ a cow and some

pigs” (Steinbeck 13) and to “live off the fatta the lan’ ” (Steinbeck 13). This aspiration is

extremely similar to the ideal life in America. George and Lennie’s goal is about gaining

their own house with a patch of land, and ultimately to be free of control from others, or

Sim Page 1 of 7

interesting insight

with?

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He

creates a

promised

reflects the ideal life in America.

Nice lead

Clear and interesting thesis, Alex!

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I would use their last names here-they are so important...

have individual liberty. Both of these elements of George and Lennie’s dream are

parallel to those of the American dream, which describes a life that promises individual

freedom and possibly materialistic wealth (in this case, possession of land). Later in the

novella, Steinbeck captures a scene in which George and Lennie reveal their

clandestine ambition to Candy, the crippled ranch handyman (Steinbeck 53-56). Upon

hearing this, Candy immediately offers to go with them (Steinbeck 56), and says that if

he dies, he will pass all of his life earnings to George and Lennie to help them purchase

their patch of land. Candy’s immediate infatuation and dedication towards the goal of

George and Lennie alludes to the notion that many were instantly attracted to what the

American dream had to offer, which is a reason that many international and domestic

migrant workers chose to come to America. Additionally, Candy’s crippled condition is a

representation of all the unfortunate situations that migrant workers came to America

from, which reflects yet again the irresistible promises that America is said to offer to

those in “crippled” circumstances. Another instance in which Steinbeck discusses his

skeptical attitude towards the promises that the American dream offers is when Lennie

reveals his ideal future to Curley’s wife. When she hears this, Curley’s wife says “I think

you’re nuts” to Lennie (Steinbeck 85). This seems to be Steinbeck speaking through

Curley’s wife; he uses her to blatantly state his doubt towards the American dream and

those that believe in it. He also uses Curley’s wife to represent the distraction that litters

the path to attaining an ideal life in the United States. When Lennie is in the process of

describing his goal, Curley’s wife begins to let Lennie stroke her hair. This is an

underlying reference to the sexual and materialistic distractions that were prone to

prevent one from reaching their goal of an ideal life during the Great Depression. The

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really interesting observation-”instant gratification” distracted the workers-maybe because they saw the long-term gratification as unattainable.

create a possessive here-George and Lennie’s goal

This

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nice metaphor

who

vivid vocab!

cite where you found this information-interesting observation

well placed appositive-you introduce your character briefly and accurately

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from where

describes

Nice paragraph, Alex-

final, and perhaps most important, instance in which Steinbeck alludes to the difficulty of

succeeding in America (by definition of the American dream) is the moment before

George shoots Lennie. In the minutes immediately preceding Lennie's death, George

starts to talk about their goal, and in an overtly emotional segment of the book, Lennie

begs "Le's do it now. Le's get that place now," to which George responds by saying

"Sure, right now. I gotta. We gotta" and then killing Lennie with Carlson’s Luger

(Steinbeck 101). This stage when George and Lennie get as near as they have ever

gotten to reaching their dream is instantly extinguished when George makes his crucial

decision. This reflects vividly that, no matter how close one gets to the achieving the

dream, the final result is usually failure, as is the case with George and Lennie.

Through George and Lennie’s dream, Steinbeck portrays the difficulty of reaching the

American dream during the Great Depression.

! Another group of characters that Steinbeck uses to capture the difficulty in

reaching the American dream during the Great Depression are Candy and Crooks.

Both men are immediately drawn to the notion of working on a patch of land with

George and Lennie. The first instance of this occurs in the bunkhouse with Candy,

George, and Lennie. In the bunkhouse, Lennie begs George again to recount the story

of their future (Steinbeck 53-58). Candy, the old ranch handyman, listens in to their

conversation. He then joins in on the conversation (Steinbeck 55). After this, Candy

then begins to passionately contribute to their conversation, and then offers to pass

down all of his life savings to George and Lennie (Steinbeck 56). From this point

forward, Candy becomes an incredibly strong companion towards George and Lennie.

This reflects how attractive the idea of the American dream is, but again, as Lennie dies

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to

in hopes of escaping/attaining...

captures the difficulty of reaching....through the characters of...

also

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at the conclusion of the novella, that life of prosperity that the dream promises is never

reached. Another character in which the attractiveness of the American dream is

mentioned is Crooks. One day, Lennie and Candy start to tell Crooks about their plan

with George to buy their own patch of land (Steinbeck 71). At first, Crooks reprimands

the pair at their stupidity (Steinbeck 72). However, he then timidly offers to join the trio

when they purchase their patch of land (Steinbeck 73). This reflects that even those

who are doubtful will eventually try to believe that the dream can be attained. Using

both Candy and Crooks, Steinbeck alludes to the attractiveness that many had towards

the American dream during the Great Depression.

! Although not a character, Steinbeck uses the title of his novella to capture the

difficulty in attaining a life that reflects the American dream during the Great Depression.

The title bestowed upon the novella, Of Mice And Men, was extracted from the Robert

Burns poem “To a Mouse” (Wikipedia To) (Wikipedia Of). This poem is supposedly

written from Burns’s perspective as a letter of apology to a mouse whose home he

unintentionally destroyed by running over it with his plow in a wheat field (Wikipedia To).

The penultimate stanza contains the line that Steinbeck used:

But little Mouse, you are not alone,

! In proving foresight may be vain:

! The best laid schemes of mice and men

! Go often askew,

! And leave us nothing but grief and pain,

! For promised joy! (Wikipedia To)

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for

nice adverb

omit-awkward

attraction

! This stanza consists of Burns telling the mouse that the future is unpredictable,

and that even the most carefully planned actions of both “mice and men” have a

tendency to yield haphazard ramifications. Additionally, Burns states in the last two

lines that even though joy and prosperity can be promised, “nothing but grief and pain”

will be the result. “The best laid schemes of mice and men go often askew” refers to the

fact that, although one can think through how they are going to live in America

completely and fully, their actions have a propensity to provide unexpected results. This

is largely due to variables that lay out of one's control. Ultimately, the actions of others

is a huge contributor to the outcome of one's efforts. This is a key section of

Steinbeck's ideology. The phrase “And leave us nothing but grief and pain, for promised

joy!” alludes to the notion that the life of prosperity and freedom that the American

dream promises to all (the promised joy) will usually end up resulting in terrible

consequences (the grief and pain). This is why Steinbeck chose to use the phrase “of

mice and men” as the title for his novella; that line and stanza fully captures both the

plot and themes of the novella and the idea that the American dream was very difficult

to obtain during the Great Depression. By carefully choosing the title Of Mice and Men

for his novella, Steinbeck gives an introduction to his social commentary before one

begins to read the novella.

! Using all four of these literary elements, John Steinbeck clearly alludes to how

difficult it was to achieve the American dream during the Great Depression. Due to the

Great Depression, people such as the characters in Of Mice and Men were thrown into

an economic debacle which hindered their ability to reach their goals. However,

Steinbeck's insights say that no matter how hard one exerts themselves, the chance of

Sim Page 5 of 7

nice insight- but maybe “greatly contributes”-

It sounds like you are saying Burns was referring to the American Dream-

very nice

?-This reflects Steinbeck’s message...

is it four?

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success is largely impacted by exogenous variables, and these variables have a gross

impact on whether one's efforts will result in success or disaster. Whether through the

unaccomplished dream of George and Lennie, the passionate attraction of Candy and

Crooks, or the discreet symbolism of the title, Steinbeck intended his novella Of Mice

and Men to be used not only as a cornerstone work of literature, but also as an

insightful social commentary. This commentary can be used to say that, as the

circumstances between the time of the Great Depression and today are similar to a

certain extent, the American dream continues to be difficult to attain. This is true

because, although the economic situation is not as dire and relevant (although it is to a

degree), the concept of uncontrollable exogenous forces that control whether one

reaches success or not continue to preside over the ultimate outcome. Although the

American dream was a goal that many strove for during the Great Depression, not

everyone was able to attain it, or in other words, not all of the mice got the cheese.

Alex,

I really enjoyed reading your essay. It is original, insightful and thought-provoking. It is

also well-organized and well-written. Nice job!

Sim Page 6 of 7

well said!

comma

Works Cited

Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York, New York: Penguin Compass, 2002. Print.

Wikipedia. “Of Mice and Men.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikimedia, 10 Dec. 2010.

Web. 14 Dec. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/‌wiki/‌Of_mice_and_men>.

- - -. “To a Mouse.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikimedia, 5 Dec. 2010. Web. 14 Dec.

2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/‌wiki/‌To_a_mouse>.

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