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Of Mice and Men • A novel by John Steinbeck
Of Mice and Men
• A novel by John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck • Born in Salinas, CA in 1902. • His father was a government
official and his mother was a teacher. They encouraged him as a reader and a writer.
• During summers, he worked as a hired hand and fruit picker, nourishing his impression of the California countryside and its people.
Steinbeck was fascinated by the human condition:
• He drew from the people and places around him for his stories.
• The plight of poor Americans during the Great Depression was the source of his Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Grapes of Wrath (1939).
Steinbeck was inspired by the strength of working people.
• The heroes in his novels are the hardworking poor.
• Steinbeck believed in the dignity of all people, and often criticized the wealthy and powerful for exploiting their workers.
• Because he fought for the poor and criticized the rich, Steinbeck was often accused of being a Socialist sympathizer.
Time Period: The Great Depression
• 1929 Stock market crash caused the U.S. economy to come to a grinding halt.
• 1 in 4 people lost their jobs, and household incomes dropped by 40%. People couldn’t afford to buy goods so businesses went bankrupt.
• Banks foreclosed on homes and farms, forcing people into homelessness, with no help from the government like we have today.
People lost faith in the “American Dream.”
• Many hardworking people who
had owned their own homes found themselves in bread lines and shantytowns.
• Thousands left home to find work. The journey was difficult and dangerous; many lost family members to disease and starvation.
The Dream of California
• The Dust Bowl was a result of drought and strong wind in the Midwest (caused the once fertile soil to dry up), this further displaced workers from agricultural jobs.
• Displaced families left the Dust Bowl of the Midwest and shanty towns in big cities to find a better life in California.
• As thousands rushed to find work, the jobs became scarce, immigrants were despised, and many found themselves worse off than before with no money to return home.
Our novel: Of Mice and Men • Setting: a ranch in
Soledad, CA during the Great Depression.
• The boss is a rich man
who hires men to work his ranch.
Lennie and George
• Two “bindle-stiffs”: men who move from job to job and carrying their belongings with them.
Why are we reading this book?
• In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck focuses his attention on one of the oldest issues in human relations: people’s responsibility for other people.
• Steinbeck is intent on getting us to see that humans cannot be isolated from one another, and cannot ignore the plight of the less fortunate.
Why does an author use authentic language?
• Steinbeck uses the language of his time, and his characters have the attitudes of the 1930s.
• To a modern reader, some words may sound insensitive and even racist.
Of Mice and Men is one of the most frequently challenged books in the
United States. • Every year, the book is
challenged in American schools as appropriate English curriculum because of “profane language, moral statement, and the violent ending.”
• Every year, millions of high school students continue to read it and find that it is one of their favorite books of all time.
Now, a little bit about the author…
• http://www.biography.com/people/john-steinbeck-9493358/videos/john-steinbeck-mini-bio-2174100661
