– John Steinbeck• Background

• Born in 1902• Attended Stanford • Won Nobel Prize in

1962• Died in 1968

• Steinbeck’s Most Famous Works

• Grapes of Wrath • Of Mice and Men• The Pearl

• Background Information for Of Mice and Men

• During the late 1930s, California was struggling with the economic problems of the Great Depression

• Steinbeck wrote movingly about the struggles of migrant farm workers in his most famous works:– Of Mice and Men (1937),– The Grapes of Wrath

(1939).

• Overview for Of Mice and Men

• George is Lennie’s keeper, and Lennie imitates everything that George does.

• George promises Lennie that some day they will have their own farm and raise rabbits as well as other animals.

• Lennie causes George problems; he has a bad habit of hurting the very things he feels affection towards (like pet mice, which he pets too hard and kills)

• Setting of for Of Mice and Men

• Set in California's Salinas Valley, the story takes place on a large ranch during the Great Depression.

• Salinas Valley, was dominated by large collective farms, or "farm factories

• These farm factories employed hundreds of workers, many of whom were migrants.

• Small farms of a few hundred acres, such as the one Lennie and George dream about, were relatively scarce.

• Main Characters– George:

• The migrant ranch hand who takes care of Lennie.

• He is one of two main protagonists in the story.

• He is slender, small and quick, with a dark face, restless eyes, and sharp features.

• Taking care of Lennie shows George’s need for companionship, but also his high moral character and compassion because Lennie is such a burden and George is completely loyal to him.

• George dreams of owning a small farm of his own, but his dream is lost.

• Lennie • George’s mildly retarded traveling companion and the other main protagonist in the story.

• He is a huge man, with large, pale eyes, a shapeless face, and sloping shoulders.

• Lennie is frequently portrayed in animal terms and loves to pet soft things.

• He is large and possesses incredible physical strength, yet he has the mind of a child.

• Lennie also dreams of owning a farm with his friend George, but Lennie causes the ruin of their dream.

• Supporting Characters

– Candy:

– Curley:

• An old, crippled man who has lost his hand

• Swamper at the ranch

• Son of ranch owner• Formidable pugilist

(Boxer)

• Supporting Characters, Continued– Curley’s Wife:

– Crooks:

• Considered a tramp by most of the ranch men

• Doesn’t have a name

• Stable buck of the ranch

• Only Black man

• Supporting Characters, Continued– Carlson

– Slim

– Boss

• Large man who complains about Candy’s old dog

• Offers to put the dog down

• Ranch foreman• Wise man

• Suspects George and Lennie when they arrive late

• Fair man