Life On The Fat Of The Land In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Living on the Fat of the Land
Two men aspired to live the American dream. They dreamed of living on the fatta the land with livestock and other animals. There would be a few acres of farmland with a little shack, crisp air and green fields. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck uses animals to symbolize both success, and trouble. For instance, animals brought peace to Lennie until the death of his pup devastated his chances of following his dream; tending rabbits in his future.
Animals brought disappointment and troubles to Lennie. Specifically, when getting caught a second time strokin’ mice, he wails “I wasn’t doin nothin bad with it, George. Jus’ strokin’ it” (9). George often gets heatedly angry at Lennie for petting mice, because he often causes

This can be seen when Lennie and George are discussing their ambitions, and George explains “We’d have plenty of rabbits to eat and sell. An’ we’d keep a few pigeons to go flyin around the win’ mill like they done when I was a kid” (58). Animals like the rabbits are a key part in their dream because they supply money and food. Moreover, the pigeons remind George of freedom and his childhood. In order to cheer Lennie up, George discusses their hopeful future by saying “We’ll have a cow... An’ we’ll have maybe a pig an’ chickens” (105). Lennie and George could not fulfill their dream without the livestock. Each animal would be needed in order for them to live easy, and better than when they were living as migrant workers.
After careful consideration of both troubles and success that animals can bring, one can conclude that Lennie and George’s dream could not be fulfilled without animals, but they were a big component of what stopped them from achieving their dream as well. Even with careful planning of their perception of living the American dream, living on the fatta the land with livestock and other animals, George made a sacrifice that ultimately ceased any chance of fulfilling their wish