The American Dream: Harper Lee and John Steinbeck

Introduction

The American Dream ultimately means many things to many

people. In many ways it can be argued to have originated with

the ideals and success of Benjamin Franklin. As one author

notes, “Franklin believed that the only true way to wealth was

through hard work. This noble idea became the soul of the

"American Dream," the idea that all people are created equal

and each person has the same opportunity to achieve success”

(Benjamin Franklin). However, that ideal of the American Dream

became more associated with wealth and material wealth than it

did with hard work and noble goals. So, the American Dream

means many things to many different people. With that in mind

the following paper compares and contrasts the American Dream

presented in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and John

Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men.

The American Dream: Harper Lee and John Steinbeck

In Harper Lee’s novel the story is about a young girl, her

brother, and her father who is a lawyer. This girl, Scout,

grows and learns about many things through the course of the

novel and it is often considered to be a coming of age novel

as Scout grows up in many ways, seeing truth wherein she used

to be innocent. When speaking of the American Dream in this

novel one must perhaps look at Scout’s father. He is a man who

is noble, honest, and humble. He fights for the rights of an

African American accused of raping a white woman even though

the small town despises his involvement. He fights for justice

and equality in the world and one could well argue that this

is his American Dream.

In Steinbeck’s the American Dream is far more readily

defined. The two main characters, George and Lennie are

essentially wanderers during the Great Depression, seeking

work and trying to survive as best they can. However, they are

not necessarily happy with this reality for “George and Lennie

dreamt of their ‘little house and a couple of acres’” (Of Mice

and Men Factsheet: Background to Of Mice and Men by John

Steinbeck). Throughout the story, up until the demise of

Lennie, Lennie constantly dreams of this American Dream and

while George wants it he perhaps does not feel he will ever

attain it. Lennie, for example, always seems to be asking

George, “George, how long’s it gonna be till we get that

little place an’ live on the fatta the lan’-an’rabbits?’”

(Steinbeck 53).

As can be seen, both stories offer a very different look

at the American Dream. However, at the same time both books

present main characters who are not wealthy and as such seek a

simple American Dream in terms of material realities. One

author notes, “For many the goal was not extravagant wealth,

but, rather, economic independence and the opportunity for

social advancement through financial gain” (Who Wants to Be a

Millionaire: Changing Conceptions of the American Dream). This

could well be related to be stories although differently. For

example, in Lee’s novel the father, Atticus, is happy in his

economic success, though they are honestly relatively poor.

He was economically independent, however, and is happy

enough with that. He pushes his American Dream to involve all

people, dreaming that people can truly see justice done no

matter who they are, and perhaps dreaming that people were not

so ignorant or fearful of what they did not understand. He is

an honorable man fighting for honorable reasons, as evidenced

when he tells Scout, “’ I wanted you to see what real courage

is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a

gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you

begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter

what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do’” (Lee 128).

In the case of George and Lennie all they want is simple

economic independence so that they can live off the fat of the
land and grow their own food and live their own life humbly
and simply. They are not necessarily asking for social
advancement save through existing and not having to struggle
every day to find food and work. Like Atticus, they are, or
would be, happy with simple stability in terms of economic
gain and like Atticus they are not afraid to work for it,
which is the ultimate foundation of the American Dream.

WORKS CITED

“Benjamin Franklin.” Retrieved 1 June, 2007 from

<http://fi.edu/franklin/economst/economst.html>.
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird.

“Of Mice and Men Factsheet: Background to Of Mice and Men by

John Steinbeck.” Retrieved 1 June, 2007 from
<http://www.newi.ac.uk/englishresources/workunits/ks4/fiction/
ofmicemen/llshort/factsheet.html>.

Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. Penguin; Steinbeck

Centennial edition, 2002.

“Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: Changing Conceptions of the

American Dream.” Retrieved 1 June, 2007 from
<http://www.americansc.org.uk/online/American_Dream.htm>.