I think that Of Mice and Men was a very interesting novel overall. It expressed the “American Dream” with many different characters and ways. With that being said I was not expecting its ending. George was the one that was leading Lennie to think that they would have their “American Dream” as soon as possible. In a blink of an eye, Lennie never got to see that dream because his best friend took his life. “I got you and you got me,” (Pg.14) is something Lennie said that reminds you the “American Dream” could be succeeded with your friends. Of course with the ending of this book that quote came to be false, as George did not have Lennie’s back.

I wasn’t exactly expecting what George did, you could tell that of course he didn’t enjoy Lennie around after awhile. What I was thinking it was, I thought it was a love hate kind of relationship. Where you have that one friend that’s really annoying, but he or she is still just there. I understand why George kind of did it though, because if he didn’t, Lennie would have been in a lot of trouble with the law. With George doing that though, I think that it shows us a symbol of how things that were shot dead in this novel became useless. Just like Candy’s dog, Carlson shot the dog because it was old and worthless to this world. That’s why I think that George killed Lennie, Lennie was starting to become worthless to this world because of his intelligence.

I feel like what Steinbeck is trying to say about the “American Dream” is that it is not as easy as you would think it would be. People through social media, commercials, and etc. make it sound “to good to be true.” Through the novel Steinbeck shows other characters dreams and how they have had barriers in between them and those dreams depending on their race, personality, and the overall setting of the character. The “American Dream” I think isn’t for everyone and I feel like that’s what Steinbeck is trying to state. You may not get to your “American Dream” until your very old like Candy. Even if you do get your “American Dream” in an early age, I’m sure it wasn’t easy to get. Overall, the “American Dream” is not just given to you, it’s earned with barriers in between you and that dream.