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

American Dream is the idea that everyone should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work and determination. George is important to the story because he teaches and helps Lennie do the right thing, due to his mental disability, Lennie doesn’t know right from wrong. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, George expresses to Lennie throughout the story that you can get anything you want, with the hard work you put toward it.

The author, John Steinbeck, does a really good job expressing the process George takes to develop the theme that it is human nature to want our dreams to come true because of the hard work we put toward it. George and Lennie have been traveling place to place, trying to find a job, so that they can get the money they need to be able to purchase their own land, “You jus’ stand there and don’t say nothing… If he sees ya work before he hears ya talk, we’re set. Ya got that?” (6). George is trying to get and keep a job so that one day, he and Lennie can achieve

George is telling Candy about his and Lennie’s plan once they get enough money from working. Candy wants to help out by putting some money toward the dream of theirs. George continues telling Lennie’s favorite story and the plan once they get the land, “It ain't enough land so we'd have to work too hard. Maybe six, seven hours a day. We wouldn't have to buck no barley eleven hours a day. An' when we put in a crop, why, we'd be there to take the crop up. We'd know what come of our planting." (28). George is proving how he has worked hard and will continue to work hard for what he wants. Once he gets the land he has dreamed of getting, he can finally do what he wants without anyone telling him what to do. In conclusion, the story Of Mice and Men, clearly expresses the motif, the American Dream, in a way people can understand that if you achieve anything with enough hard work and