In John Steinbeck's novel, "Of Mice and Men," the "American Dream" was that of freedom and independence for George and Lennie. The American Dream will not work for the two of them. George has a lack of responsibility for the actions that Lennie does. George isn't strict on Lennie like he should, which allows Lennie to do anything he wants and get away with it. Lennie was not the smartest of the two, but that doesn't give him the authority to do bad things and not have any repercussions afterwards. If George wanted to keep his jobs before, he should have been more strict on Lennie and disciplined him when Lennie was in the wrong. George's lack of responsibility was one of the key reasons why the American dream didn't work. In the novel, you see that George is responsible for Lennie, but you also see that George is not taking responsibility of Lennie's erratic behavior. Because Lennie is not as smart as he should be at his age, George steps in so that he can take care of him, like a stepparent to his or her stepchild. However, as a parent you are responsible for the behaviors that your child projects, and it is your responsibility to correct them. Well, George did half of that. He would look after Lennie and supply Lennie with his essential items for life, but he would not take responsibility for the actions that Lennie made. If George was more strict on Lennie, then most of the incidents that Lennie started would not have happened. For example, on page 7 of the novel, Of Mice and Men, Lennie was left alone with no supervision and he touched a ladies dress and held onto it when she got offended. If George had been near Lennie and keeping an eye on him, none of that would have happened and they would still have their jobs. George's lack of responsibility towards Lennie lead him to gain an attitude of defeat. This attitude that George was showing was an attitude of defeat. George thought that Lennie will never get any better and always b