An Introduction to Of Mice and Men

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An Introduction toOf Mice and Men
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A Look at the Author

• John Steinbeck was born in 1902 in Salinas,
  California.
• During his childhood, he learned to appreciate
  his surroundings and loved the Salinas
  countryside and the nearby Pacific Ocean.
• This love of nature is apparent in his writing.
• Steinbeck worked during his summers as a hired
  hand in nearby ranches.

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The Fields of Salinas, CaliforniaThen and Now
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• At the age of fourteen, Steinbeck decided to
  become a writer and spent a lot of time writing
  in his room.
• In high school, Steinbeck did well in English and
  edited the school yearbook.
• From 1919-1925, Steinbeck attended Stanford
  University.
• Eventually dropped out.
• Sometimes worked with migrant workers and
  bindle stiffs on California ranches.

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• During the late 1920s and 1930s, he concentrated
  on writing and wrote several novels set in
  California.
• Steinbeck gained
• great success by
• readers and critics.

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• In 1935, he won his first literary prize,
  Commonwealth Club of California Gold Medal for
  Best Novel by a Californian for his novel,
  Tortilla Flat.
• In 1937, Of Mice and Men was published, and it
  was so widely accepted that Steinbeck began a
  book tour that led him to Europe.
• The first movie adaptation came out in 1939.

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• Of Mice and Men was inspired by his experience
  working among migrant workers.
• Steinbecks experiences in the fields researching
  migrant workers led him to have great compassion
  for these workers and stirred him to work for
  social justice.

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• Steinbecks last two books were nonfiction.
• Travels with Charley in Search of America is an
  account of his trip from Maine to California with
  his poodle, Charley.
• His final book, America and the Americans, is
  about his belief that in time, America would
  once again feel united.

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• In 1962, Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for
  Literature.
• Steinbeck died on December 20, 1968, at his
  apartment in New York City.
• His body was returned to Salinas to be buried
  near the land that he spent his life writing
  about.

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The General Setting

• The novella is set in the farmland of the Salinas
  Valley, California, where John Steinbeck was
  born.
• The ranch in the novel is near Soledad, which is
  south-east of Salinas on the Salinas River, a
  mere ten miles from the Pacific Ocean.
• The countryside and ranch described at the
  beginning of the novella are based on Steinbecks
  own experiences.

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Social Conditions of Migrant Workers in the 1930s

• Between the 1880s and the 1930s, thousands of men
  would travel the countryside in search of work.
• Such work included the harvesting of wheat and
  the bucking of barley.

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• These workers would earn 2.50 or 3.00 a day,
  plus food and shelter.
• During the 1930s, the unemployment rate was very
  high in the U.S. (peaked at 24.9), and with so
  many men searching for work, agencies were set up
  to send farm workers to where they were needed.
• In the novella, George and Lennie are given work
  cards from Murray and Readys, one of the farm
  work agencies.

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Of Mice and Men Titles Origin

• Comes from the poem To a Mouse by the Scottish
  poet Robert Burns (1759 -1796)
• The best laid schemes o mice and men
• Gang aft agley often go wrong
• And leave us naught but grief and pain
• For promised joy!

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Chapter 1 The Riverbank

• Read the first two paragraphs of Chapter 1.
• What atmosphere does Steinbeck create?
• List two phrases or sentences that show that mood
  or atmosphere.

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Chapter 2 The Bunkhouse

• Read the first three paragraphs of Chapter 2.
• List three phrases that describe the bunkhouse.
• What atmosphere does Steinbeck create here?
• How is this setting different from the one
  described at the beginning of Chapter 1?

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Chapter 3 Another Look at the Bunkhouse

• Read the first two paragraphs of Chapter 3.
• What image does Steinbeck create here?
• What effect does it have?
• What technique does he use here (given that we
  know the outcome of the novella)?

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Chapter 4 Crooks Room

• Read the first five paragraphs of Chapter 4.
• What are three phrases or sentences that describe
  Crooks room?
• What effect does these descriptions have?

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Chapter 5 The Barn

• Read the first four paragraphs of Chapter 5.
• What are three phrases or sentences that set the
  atmosphere here?
• Based on this, can it be expected that Steinbeck
  will present a positive outcome?

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Chapter 6 Back at the Riverbank

• Read the first four paragraphs of Chapter 6.
• What are three phrases or sentences that describe
  this scene?
• What animal is a symbol of evil here and
  foreshadows the eventual outcome of the novella?
• What mood or atmosphere does Steinbeck create
  here?
• How is this different from how the riverbank is
  described in Chapter 1?

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The American Dream

• From the 17th Century onwards, immigrants have
  dreamed of a better life in America.
• Many people immigrated to America in search of a
  new life for themselves or their families.
• Many others immigrated to escape persecution or
  poverty in their homeland.

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American Dream contd

• These immigrants dreamed of making their fortunes
  in America.
• For many this dream of riches became a nightmare.
  
• ? there were horrors of slavery,
• ? there were horrors of the American Civil War,
• there was a growing number of slums that were
  just as bad as those in Europe,
• there was also great corruption in the
• American political system which led to many
• shattered hopes

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• The idea of an American Dream for many was broken
  when in 1929, the Wall Street crashed, marking
  the beginning of the Great Depression.
• This era affected the whole world during the
  1930s, but even in the midst of hardship, some
  peoples dreams survived.
• Thousands of people made their way west towards
  California to escape from their farmlands in the
  mid-West that were failing due to drought.
• The characters of George and Lennie dreamt of
  having a little house and a couple of acres
  which was their own dream.