John Steinbeck’s of Mice and Men

P. Vik

T. Pope

8 March 2016

The curtains open and the spotlight flashes onto the stage. The crowd triumphantly cheers in awe and anticipation for the legendary Brandon Kim. He sees his radiant visage in the lens of camera one. In this moment, he realizes that if it were not for his relentless pursuit of his dream, he would not be the star he is today. Dreams and fantasies are the positive driving force that guides us and pushes us forward to overcome the adversity we face to ultimately reach our goals.

Realists often dismiss the idea of living in a dream because it seems ignorant and impractical; they are misled to believe that life will never act in their favor. However, this is a misguided perspective on life, because being a dreamer does not necessarily mean being unrealistic and unwilling to work hard to achieve goals. Dreams can be a source of hope and constructive encouragement to those who are struggling to succeed. In fact, losing sight of one’s goals undermines one’s ability to achieve them. Being too realistic often leads to cynicism and apathy. It is important to prepare oneself to face the harshness of reality, because life is not always fair, but it is far more important to have dreams to work towards in order to positively change one’s life. Martin Luther King Jr. led the Civil Rights Movement, which entailed one of the most substantial changes of American history. When he began his leadership, he was prepared to face the reality that the road to Civil Rights would be difficult, but he never abandoned his dream. His dream inspired him to fight for what he believed in, and eventually, he reached his pivotal goal to establish rights for the African-American population.

The power of dreams, especially the American Dream, is a major theme in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. He constructs a climax in which his character Lennie asks George to repeat his dream to him, moments before being

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