JOHN STEINBECK

1
JOHN STEINBECK
BY Mariah Anastasia and Michael
Books Of Mice and Men Grapes of Wrath and East
of Eden
2
BIOGRAPHY

• John Steinbeck
• 1902-1968

• He was born in Salinas, California

• He went to Stanford University but didnt
  graduate
• He tried to be a free lance writer in New York,
  but he failed so he went back to California
• He was first known for Tortilla Flat it was a
  funny book series

3
OF MICE AND MEN
CHARACTERS

• George
• - He helps take care of Lenny and looks out for
  him.
• Lenny
• - he has mental problems. Always getting into
  trouble. His dream is to have a farm with George
  and tend to the rabbits.
• Candy
• - is the little old guy with the dog and is the
  one who finds Curly's wife dead.
• Curly
• Crooks
• - Is the slave that live at the bunkhouse and he
  talks with Lenny
• Carlson
• He is a mean guy that beats Lenny and then Lenny
  smashes his hand.
• Slim
• the only guy who understands the relationship of
  George and Lenny

4
Of Mice and Men(1937)

• Of Mice and Men was published in 1937.
• The main characters are George and Lenny.
• They go out looking for a new job and place to
  live because they were on the run.
• Lenny always gets them into trouble. ( he had
  mental problems)
• Since Lenny aunt passed George took care of him.
• They end up finding a place when they were
  running through a farm during the great dust
  bowl.

5
Mariahs Opinion

• In the beginning of the book I had no clue what
  was going on. As I read it more I understood the
  situation. I really liked the book and most of
  the characters. I didnt like Carlson because he
  not a very nice person. Personally I did not like
  the ending to the book. I dont think they should
  have killed Lenny.

6
The Grapes of Wrath

• Time and Place Written Late May to Late October,
  1938 in Los Gatos, California
• Published April 14th, 1939
• Setting 1930s

7

• Tells a story of the Joad family to help show
  the life of migrant laborers and how they
  suffered during the Great Depression.
• Tom has just gotten out of McAlester Prison
  where he was for four years because he killed a
  man during a fight.
• On his way home Tom ran in to Jim Casy who was
  his former preacher. He gave up ministry because
  he thought it was bad that he didnt feel wrong
  for having sexual affairs with a woman in the
  churchs congregation.
• When they both head over to the Joad house ,
  theyre told by their nutcase neighbor, Muley
  Graves, told them that the Joads were evicted.

8

• The Joads are now staying at Uncle Johns house.
  Those living in the house are Toms mom, dad,
  brother Noah(brain damaged at birth), sister Rose
  of Sharon(Rosasharn) who is pregnant, her husband
  Connie Rivers, Grandma, Grandpa, and 16 year old
  brother Al who is obsessed with cars and girls.
• Theyre planning to go to California to work in
  the fields. Jim Casy goes along but Grandpa Joe
  doesnt want to so they give him medicine that
  knocks him out they put him in the car and take
  him.
• On their journey, the family dog dies and Grandpa
  Joe dies of a stroke.

9

• The Wilson family helps them out and starts
  traveling with them.
• They make it to California where they are called
  Okies and they have to stay in a camp but the
  Wilsons go to jail instead. Grandma Joad dies in
  the camp.
• They learn about Weedpatch, a government run camp
  where they wouldnt have the police harass them.
• Tom, Jim, police officers, and other workers get
  into a fight. Jim takes responsibility and goes
  to jail.
• Uncle John leaves to get drunk, Noah goes to live
  in the woods, and Connie abandons his pregnant
  wife They only get Uncle John back.

10

• They leave for Weedpatch.
• Here they are treated like normal people and Tom
  finds a job the next day. His job was at the
  upcoming dance making sure that no fights broke
  out.
• They couldnt find a steady job so they decided
  to keep on with their journey.
• They soon came to Hooper Ranch where they pick
  peaches. They are getting paid a lot because they
  broke a strike.
• A fight breaks out between the strike breakers
  and the strikers ( the strikers are led by Jim
  Casy). Jim is killed in this and tom killed the
  man who killed Jim. He gets away.
• Tom goes to live in the woods while his family
  lives in a boxcar.

11

• The truth gets out about where they are living so
  Tom leaves .
• His family wanted to follow him but a flood comes
  and they cannot get out because Rosasharn goes
  into labor.
• The get on top of the boxcar and Uncle John takes
  the baby that was born stillborn puts him in a
  box and sends him down the river.
• They find a barn on higher land and a barn that
  they find a man and his son.
• The man is dying of starvation and since
  Roshasharn is able to she breastfeeds the man
  back to health.

12
East of Eden
13
Character list
The Trask Family Cyrus Trask -  the father of
Adam and Charles. He also lies about his war
storys and truthfully he was shot with in the
first hour of war Mrs. Trask -  The first wife
of Cyrus Trask and the mother of Adam. When cyrus
cheats on her with a prostitute during the war
she commits suicide Alice Trask -  Cyruss second
wife and the mother of Charles. She never really
shows emotion during the book Adam Trask -  The
son of Cyrus Trask and the father of Aron and
Cal. Adam is a goodhearted but somewhat
impractical man he ends up falling in love with
the most evil women in the book Charles Trask - 
The son of Cyrus Trask and the half-brother of
Adam. Charles is a violent, manipulative man who
works on his fathers farm he fills canes part in
the novel Aron Trask -  The son of Adam and
Cathy and the twin brother of Cal. Joins the army
after his brothers lies which then he dies in
acction (the abel) Caleb Trask -  The son of Adam
and Cathy and the twin brother of Aron. He plays
canes role in the second generation of the book
indirectly killing Aron (the Abel) .
14
The Hamilton Family Samuel Hamilton -  The
patriarch of the Hamilton family. Liza
Hamilton -  Samuels wife and the mother of their
nine children. The tiny Liza is a strict, moral
woman George Hamilton -  The oldest son of Samuel
and Liza. Will Hamilton -  The second son of
Samuel and Liza. He becomes very weathy Tom
Hamilton -  The third son of Samuel and Liza. He
kills his sister on accident which then he kills
himself out of grief Joe Hamilton -  The
youngest son of Samuel and Liza. Joe, a dreamer
and academic by nature, Lizzie Hamilton -  The
eldest daughter of Samuel and Liza. Lizzie, a
very minor character, essentially leaves the
Hamilton family and chooses instead to associate
herself with her husbands family. Una
Hamilton -  The second daughter of Samuel and
Liza. She dies after she moves into her husbands
house Her death crushes Samuel and ages him
considerably. Dessie Hamilton -  The third
daughter of Samuel and Liza. Dessie, who runs a
dressmaking shop in Salinas, is not beautiful but
has a lovely personality that makes everyone
enjoy her company. She dies when Tom gives her
salts to soothe her stomach, accidentally
aggravating her illness. Olive Hamilton -  The
fourth daughter of Samuel and Liza. Olive becomes
a teacher, which makes her family proud. She is
the mother of the narrator of the novel (and
indeed, in real life, the mother of John
Steinbeck). Mollie Hamilton -  The youngest
daughter of Samuel and Liza. Mollie is the lovely
one, the sweetheart of the family. She marries
and moves to an apartment in San Francisco.
15

Other Characters Cathy
Ames -  A moral monster, the most evil character
in the novel. As a young girl, she murders her
parents by arson and then commences a life of
prostitution. She later marries and then shoots
Adam Trask, abandoning her newborn twin sons in
order to return to prostitution. After murdering
the brothel owner, Faye, Cathy becomes the madam
of the brothel, using drugs to control and
manipulate her whores. She takes photographs of
powerful men involved in sex acts in order to
blackmail them. Arons discovery that Cathy is
his mother shatters him and spurs the chain of
events that leads to his death. Cathy represents
Eve in the Cain and Abel story of the novel,
introducing sin and evil into the world. She
commits suicide after enduring Arons response to
her. Lee -  Adam Trasks dutiful cook and
housekeeper, Abra Bacon -  The daughter of the
corrupt county supervisor in Salinas Mr.
Edwards -  A man who runs a prostitution ring
throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut. he
beats her nearly to death, and she crawls away to
the nearest farmthat owned by Charles and Adam
Trask. Faye -  The madam at the Salinas
whorehouse where Cathy works as a prostitute.
Cathy poisons Faye gradually, and after Faye
finally dies, takes over the brothel. Ethel -  A
prostitute at Fayes brothel who obtains proof
that Cathy murdered Faye. Ethel tries to
blackmail Cathy for a payment of 100 each month
but is later discovered to have drowned. Joe
Valery -  An escaped convict who is employed as a
bouncer at Cathys brothel.
16
Summery of east of eden
The narrator tells the story in the third person
switching the view over MANY diff charicters
through out the book. John Steinbeck writes a
great book sibling rivalry as he examines what we
become vs. what we may become. The Biblical tale
of Cain and Abel sets the tone as we are
introduced to two sets of brothers. Each tries to
win the love of his father in different ways. The
story of why one brother succeeds while another
feels unloved is beautifully told. Adam Trask,
from the first set of brothers, repeats his own
story with his sons, the twins Aron and Caleb.
The enduring themes of light vs. dark, good vs.
evil, hatred vs. love, and always the free will,
the ability to choose one's own destiny. Cathy,
the whore with a heart of stone, has to be one of
the most evil characters in this book. She kills
her parents, beds her husband's brother on her
wedding night, shoots her husband and desserts
her infant sons. And, all this before she turns
really bad! Truly a character that is like pure
evil but she keeps you interested in the book. On
the other hand there are the wonderful characters
of Samuel and Lee, men you will remember for
their smarts, caring, and niceness. And there is
Adam, a weird man until his re-birth and
spectacular failure finds him caught in a web of
good and evil that he struggles with.through out
the whole story I found out that John Steinbeck
put himself into the novel, as Samuel Hamilton is
based on his own grandfather. The entire Hamilton
clan is one that represents the true "salt of the
earth"