Pursuing The American Dream In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Pursuing the Unattainable ¨Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.¨ An unalienable right, provided by the Constitutions Declaration of Independence, a right in which our government is expected to secure. The idea of a ¨happiness¨ that could be, allows us to hope, hope for a better and more fulfilling life. Something that we can not only reach for and attain but maintain as well. The life we fantasize about, our ¨white picket fence,” and American Dream. George and Lennie 's farm and ¨fatta lan¨ (fat of land) (Steinbeck 3) symbolizes this dream because their farm would enable them to take care of themselves, and not have to worry about the ruthless outside world disturbing them. They would provide for themselves and take care of only themselves, with the exception of Candy. This dream is accompanied by the phrase that “we are all created equal” and should be treated equally. But this indeed

Lennie’s dream is to tend the rabbits at the dream farm, a constant symbol of his American dream throughout the novella. Lennie has a profound sense of loneliness inside, he seeks companionship in these furry animal friends, despite the fraternity he holds with George. “I could pet it with my thumb while we walked along” (Steinbeck 6). Lennie consistently has this need to pet soft things, whether it be mice, rabbits, or a woman’s hair. And he has pets along the way however, all the animals he’s ever acquired, he’s strangled to death. “They was so little.. I’d pet em and pretty soon they bit my fingers and I pinched their heads and then they was dead” (Steinbeck 10). This is just another example of the predatory nature of humanity. He complains about how it was an accident because maybe in his simple mind, it was just a mishap. But are the mice deaths really an accident? Lennie retaliates by pinching their heads, probably not meaning to kill them, but definitely to harm them in some way. He’s too strong for his own