Contrast The American Dream With The Real Life Of The Migrant Worker Essay

In 1930s America, most Americans had the so-c onlyed American Dream, which was to own their own piece of realm and to be their own boss. The inclinationte came into existence in the 1800s, when undercoat was readily available. By the 1930s, when this solelyegory Of Mice And Men was set, it was almost impossible to venture the trance reality as most priming coat had been bought beforehand.Migrant players ar labourers who form on gapes as harvesters, skinners, and swampers, carrying heavy materials and doing more other manual jobs. They work hard and earn poor wages. They in any case mystify no friends or family as they continuously travel to different ranches in California, and so therefore they take for real few possessions such as tinned food, humiliated mats, blankets and shaving blades etc. They carry their possessions in a bindle and are commonly called bindle stiffs or bindle bums, as they carried them on their back. Migrant workers sleep in bunkhouses which are situated on the ranch. They share a bunkhouse with other workers of that ranch.There is half-size privacy in the bunkhouses as there are usually among four and six workers in superstar bunkhouse. They are allo fatheaded their own shelf or cupboard in which to nourishment their really few possessions. Migrant workers wear jean clothes as denim is hard wearing and so they dont feel to keep on buying clothes with their hard earned money which can be spent elsewhere. Workers do not have any rights such as sickness payments, old age pensions etc, from their ranch. So when workers crawfish they have a very grim future in prospect. To be able to work, workers were issued with work cards from the local job agencies.The work cards were only presumption if a ranch boss cherished new workers. Work cards were important as it gave them a work permit. Workers similarly feared the sack, which was the case if per boy done something wrong. The had no choice of menus as repasts were cooked by other workers. If they precious a different meal they would have to go offside the ranch in the town which workers have to pay for themselves. There was little justice on the ranches and workers had to develop their own rules of behaviour to survive.The novel we read is called Of Mice And Men. It is set in California, America, in the 1930s. Of Mice And Men is mainly about cardinal American migrant workers. One of the workers is called Lennie and the other worker is called George. The writer of the novel, John Steinbeck, shows us in detail their lives as migrant workers, with the other workers, and Steinbeck also shows us the dreams and aspirations of these two migrant workers and the other workers. Steinbeck also shows the reality on the ranch and what they actually experience.George and Lennie are very close friends. In fact Lennie cannot move without George, as George is a father like figure to him. Lennie has a mental disability and acts like a small child, though he is a very fibrous man as seen in his first description, a huge man, shapeless of face, with large pale eyeball, with enormous sloping shoulders, and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws. Lennie is frequently described with animal imagery due to his physical features, eg like a terrier who doesnt want to bring a ball to its exceed, strong asa bull, Lennie covered his face with his huge paws and bleated with terror, Lennie growled back to his seat . This undifferentiated use of animal imagery echoes Lennies love of and devotion to animals of his own, especially rabbits, mice and puppies. Lennie is a gentle giant, who brings out trouble. Lennie is doomed in a world of desperate moral confusion.He cannot survive in a world of cruelty, selfishness, and disgrace. Throughout the novel, Lennie is portrayed as sympathetic in loving terms, eg ..Lennies jus like a kid. There aint no more harm in him than a kid, neither, except hes so strong. Georg e about (Lennie), He aint bright. Hell of a tidy worker, though. Hell of a nice fella, but he aint bright. Lennies sinlessness I wont permit in no trouble, George. I aint gonna opine a word. scale down about (Lennie) Hes nice fella. Guy dont need no sense to be a nice fella. Georges description is all in all opposite of Lennie, and Steinbecks initial description emphasises the physical difference between him and Lennie, The first man was small and quick, dark of face, with restless eyes and sharp strong features. Every originate of him was defined. Small, strong hands, slender arms, a thin and bony nose .The novel Of Mice And Men commences a few miles south of Soledad, near the Salinas River. It is lovesome and tranquil. It is important to mention the opening part of the novel as this is where George identifies a spot where, if Lennie gets into trouble , he can go to and hide, If you jus happen to get in trouble like you perpetually done before. (In mint, Weed is a town in California where George and Lennie used to, before they had to run as Lennie was accused of raping a woman) I want you to come right here an hide in the bush. This dictation ensures that the novel exit end where it began.George and Lennie are looking forward to their dream which is to save money by working(a) on the ranch in Soledad (the town where they arrived aft(prenominal) Weed), and one day owning their own piece of land and being their own bosses, which is the American Dream. George and Lennies dream is more materialistic, as they envision a charge where no proboscis gona get hurt nor steal from them. Their small piece of land will make them part of a stable and secure society, instead of being on its migratory fringes. The friendship between Lennie and George is securely rooted in their dream. A dream that Lennie is never tired of hearing and which relieves them both from the pain of solitude.The dream is everything to Lennie and so George endlessly repeats descriptio ns of their idealistic future, a happy time when they will Live off the fatta the land. Lennie delightedly enjoys interrupting George.. But not us An why? Because Because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you and thats why. George and Lennies dream introduces the theme of friendship and love, basic human needs that had all but disappeared at that time for millions of Americans. glass and Crooks other migrant workers on the same ranch, are also caught up in this dream. On this ranch there was racial prejudice against non-whites, and the stable buck, who was black, has his own room.He reads books to pass his time alone and so therefore he is educated. A lot of migrant workers wanted their own room and privacy like Crooks, and were jealous of it. It was wrong for anyone to go into Crookss room as he was black, but one day Lennie went inside and started talking toing to Crooks. Lennie discussed his dreams with Crooks and he dejectedly and wryly commented, nada never gets to heaven, and nobody never gets no land. Crooks also commented on how his father had a ranch when he was a kid and how he and his two brothers used to work on it. Candy was also caught up in George and Lennies dream and wanted to uphold by adding to the money with his savings.Curly who is the son of the owner of the ranch, is married and his married woman is also involved in a imaginary future and she has a dream of herself as a great movie star. But in one way or another all the dreams of these workers are smashed. This American Dream makes Lennie happy as here he gets to unravel rabbits and mice which he loves as they are soft, and so therefore George always repeats the dream for him. And so it seems that George is trying to help Lennie achieve the dream. And helping each other on the ranch was seen to be unusual amongst the workers, and it was different between George and Lennie and the other workers.The reality of the lives of George and Lennie was that it was a struggle even to get a job, and even with a job, funds were still insufficient to buy land, (which was their dream), let alone enjoy themselves. Life involved hard work for George and Lennie. We can see strong devotion in George and Lennie but, in reality they were living with sadistic race such as Carlson. This was seen as he shot Candys clink which Carlson said was too old and smelly and suggested the dog was suffering and it would be better off it was killinged, That dog aint no good to himself. I wish somebodyd shot me if I get a cripple. This comment seems to be the voice of Steinbeck, a pessimistic voice that understood the fate of all the disposable people. Carlson shoots the dog, and Candys final comment about the dog influences Georges decision to kill Lennie.Candy, I ought to of shot that dog myself. I shouldnt ought to let no stranger shoot my dog. Although he earned poor wages George enjoyed himself by going to the brothel and drinking. And while Lennie was getting d emented about living on his own land, he still had to sleep with four other workers in the bunkhouse with no room for and furniture and no personal possessions which was the same for all workers. George and Lennie had a relationship which was unusual. George always looked after Lennie, and they supported each other, which was unusual.Slim, who is a worker on the ranch, provides a strong contrast to the front negativity and latent sense of danger. Slime moves With a majesty only achieved by royalty and master craftsman. Slims reaction to Georges security measures of Lennie, seems to echo the feelings of Steinbeck himself, Aint many guys travel around together I dont know why. Maybe everybody in the whole damn world is scared of each other. Recreational activities for the workers on the ranch, away from going to the brothel every Saturday and having Sunday off, included playing vaulting horseshoe which was a patch played, international the barn.The dreams articulates two essent ial themes in this novel importance of dreaming and loneliness in the lives of the workers. George and Lennie are very different from all the other workers, mainly because of their relationship and their goals. This may seem odd considering that George always complains of how scant(p) life sentence would be without Lennie (due to his problems), George could spend the nights in cat houses and drink quantities of rotgut booze. Yet his devotion to and protection of Lennie make it clear that he does not want this kind of freedom, as such freedom would add him alone. In a different sens, Steinbeck continuously focuses on the isolation of loneliness. George is frequently playing solitare (a card game for one person). However George is not a pathetic character. He has a will and he makes two critical decisions at the end of the novel.Loneliness is also seen through Cooks, the stable buck, in that, as he is black, he is isolated from all the other workers and therefore has his own room w hich nobody is allowed to enter. However one Saturday night, Lennie enters Crookss room and chats innocently to Crooks about the place he and George are going to have. Lennie is rapt in wonder of the dream and the delight of his new puppy, and is deaf to Crookss personal reminiscence. However, when Crooks starts teasing Lennie about the idea that George may not come back, Lennie is extremely agitated. Unable to cope with the thought that someone may have hurt his beloved George, Lennie is ready to attack Crooks physically.Crooks manages to calm Lennie down, and whilst Lennie dreams contentedly of their little piece of land, Crooks speaks of loneliness, and his life when he was a kid. Crooks, a victim of racial inequality, remarks cynically, Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody never gets no land. Candy joins Lennie in Crookss room. Crooks, desperately lonely, is secretly delighted to have company. George returns. He is angry that Lennie and Candy have shared their plans with Croo ks. They all return to the bunkhouses and leave Crooks alone in his room to massage his tainted spine.The opening location and atmosphere reflects the ending of this novel. As this is the day (Sunday) where Lennie dies. While the men are noisily enjoying a horseshoe tenement outside, Lennie is alone in the barn. He is distressed as he has out of the blue killed his puppy. Hes terrified that George will punish him and he (Lennie) will not get to hightail it no rabbits. Curlys wife, dressed in a tartish way, goes to Lennie. She consoles him about the puppy, he was jus a cur. And settles down to talk to him. Lennie is disheartened with the dead puppy. Curlys wife tells Lennie, I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely. She goes on to say that she can only talk to Curly otherwise he gets mad. Lennie tells her how he likes to pet soft things and Curlys wife encourages him to blow her hair Here feel right here feel right aroun there ansee how soft it is.As always Lennie has no understanding of his strength and as Curlys wife becomes hysterical, Lennie, confused and terrified, prevents her from screaming. Her eyes are wild with terror and her neck snaps under Lennies paw-like grip. The description her body flopped like a fish contains identical imagery to that used when Lennie defended himself against Curly, Curly was flopping like a fish(chapter 4). Lennie remembers Georges instruction at the opening of the novel and runs to hide in the bush where George told him to. Alerted by Candy, George steals Carlsons gun and accordingly joins the men. George reassures himself and says maybe theyll lock him up an be nice to him. Curly is bursting with rage when he finds out what has happened to his wife and is determined to kill Lennie because Lennie crushed his hand.George is aware that he needs to save Lennie from the fury of Curly. Candy spoke of his greatest fear You an me can get that little place, cant we , George? Before George spoke dulcify dropped his head and looked down at the bay. He knew the dream was over. George and so faces reality and tells Candy, Ill work my month an Ill take my fifty bucks an Ill stay all night in some cat house. George comes back to the barn, as if he did no know, with all the other workers. At this point George knows what he is going to do. Curly gathered his troops together with Crookss gun and went to search for Lennie. The death of Lennie will spell the death of his shared dream. He is figuratively as dead as Candys dog. The description echoes that of chapter 1, but the stillness has a sharper edge. A motionless heron swallows a pissing snake, the wind is a gust and the dry leaves on the ground scudded.Lennie kneels down at the edge of the peeing and drinks, but whereas earlier He flung himself down. drank with long gulps, snorting into the water like a horse. Now he Knelt down barely touching his lips to the water. The verb Jerked up and the fact that he Strained towards the goodly of the bi rds, conveys his restlessness. Lennie is tormented with guilt and is confusion and anguish reveal themselves in a vision of his Aunt Clara and a gigantic rabbit. The rabbit seems to be imitating George, calling him a Crazy bastard. The arrival of George settles Lennie and pathetically, knowing he has done a Bad thing. He waits to be scolded. George goes through the motions of saying how easy life would be without Lennie but his voice is Monotonous and has No emphasise.This leads automatically to the reinforcement of their friendship and their dream. As the shouts of the men come closer, George prepares to shoot the unsuspecting Lennie. Georges hand shake Violently but hes fully aware of the brutality of Curly, so pulls the trigger and this saves Lennie from the vicious brutality of Curly, so then throws the gun near the pile of old ashes. Just as the fire has been reduced to the ashes so to is the dream. Slim comforts George, You hadda, George. I swear you hadda, and he takes George away to get a drink. The final word is given to Carlson whose emotional limitations and lack of sensitivity are shown in his remark, now what the hell ya suppose is eatin them two guys?