A Comparison Of Reality In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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Reality always defeats dreams. No matter whether or not the dream is simple, in order to achieve it, the journey will be complicated. In Salinas, California during the Great Depression, life was rather busy. Individuals revolved their lives around work, and hardly left themselves leisure time for fantasizing. Dreams were rarely obtained due to the harsh circumstances. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, a majority of the most neglected characters carry foolish dreams that are out their reach; from owning rabbits to becoming a movie star. The lower class people do not realize the reality that surrounds them. Steinbeck implies that dreams never come true; no matter how hard one tries or believes. He demonstrates this by utilizing Lennie and Curley’s wife’s crushed ambitions. Steinbeck emphasizes that reality overpowers pursuits by using worthless, low ranking characters in his novel. Lennie, a mentally disabled man, cannot stay away from his desire of owning rabbits on a farm. His…show more content…
Reality has held her behind. “‘He said he was gonna put me in the movies. Says I was a natural. Soon’s he got back to Hollywood he was gonna write me about it.’… ‘I never got that letter’” (88). She suffers everyday knowing her dream will never come alive again. Her expired dream has caused her to become a tart with no other option. She is slowly dying from the inside, since she got her hopes up. She continues to threaten men to veil her ashamedness. All she can do is complain about the things she craves to have. “‘Coulda been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes– all them nice clothes like they wear. An’ I coulda sat in them big hotels, an’ had pitchers took of me’” (89). Curley’s wife is forced to proceed in life with nothing to look forward to. Dreams destroy expected minds and give off a new, discouraged outlook on life. Dreams are useless and distrustful to hold on to; therefore reality comes into place
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