Why Are Dreams Hard to Achieve in of Mice and Men?

In ‘Of Mice & Men’ by John Steinbeck, he discusses dreams during the early years of the Great Depression. The dreams vary amongst the characters, bringing to light many of the ideas & hopes people conceive when put in different situations. The simplest of dreams such as longing for company to an extravagant dream full of riches were both equally hard to achieve in this period of time. This essay will aim to discuss why dreams are hard to achieve in Of Mice & Men with references to the Great Depression the social status of the characters.
The Great Depression was an economic critical situation that began in 1929 & proceeded into the 1930s. It resulted in millions of people being forced into poverty & unemployment in the USA. Through these extremely difficult times, a large number of men, women & children were homeless, poor & on the brink of death due to starvation & the harsh conditions of the environment. Modern citizens of middle class societies spend time worrying about meaningless situations that have little effect on their lives, whereas, during the Great Depression, subjects such as food, water & shelter were all that people would worry about. It is through these hardships that the idea of the American Dream was born. The American Dream is the idea of an ideal society consisting of equality, happiness & fairness, where everybody could live a happy & successful life. The American Dream steered people into a frame of mind that made them want to work & earn a living to one day live the life they so desired. This is evident in Of Mice & Men because George & Lennie dream about one day owning a farm of their own where they can “live off the fatta the lan”. Their hope for what they dreamed would one day be a reality was difficult to achieve because of the recession that America was enduring at the time. The drought that America was also going through during this time made the need for farmers to drop because...