Of Mice and Men is set in California during the Great Depression in the 1930’s. Steinbeck wrote a letter to George Albee ( a famous clinical psychologist) in 1933 about how he wanted to write a story about this “whole valley” which would have represented the economic and social hardships people went through while working on ranches and farms and said he wanted the valley to be “the valley of the world” as it would represent the majority of lower class people at the time. The novella is about two migrant workers, George and Lennie, who have been let off a bus far away from the ranch where they are soon to start work. Each chapter of the novella begins with a detailed description of the setting, this helps to create a certain atmosphere as well
“Wha’s the matter with me?’ she cried. ‘Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody? Whatta they think I am, anyways?” (Steinbeck 87) In the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Curley’s wife is discriminated against because she is a woman living in the 1930s when few females could live economically independent of men. By choosing not to name her, Steinbeck reinforces her insignificance on the ranch and her dependence on Curley. While a misfortunate victim of isolation, Curley’s wife exerts unexpected power attempting to mask her pain.
The chapter emphasizes the theme of human endurance by showing people's willingness to take any job they can find. Steinbeck shows that workers will do any type of work and take almost any type of pay, when he says, “Take her to the scales. Argue. Scale man says you got rocks to make weight. How ‘bout him? His scales are fixed” (407). The workers are well aware of the system used by landowners are used to maximize their profit, yet they choose to work anyways. Workers have to deal with rigged scales and the debt of buying the cotton bags. This shows that these people are willing to be cheated and go through physical pain, just to support themselves and their families. In addition, the workers endure and fight back. To counter the rigged scale,
Imagine if you had almost no money, only had 1 true friend, and one goal that you will do anything to achieve. That's the life of George and Lennie, two farm hands who are about to start working on a ranch in Salinas, California. It seemed like everything was going well for the two of them, or at least they thought it was. Steinbeck argues, throughout Of Mice and Men, that we as humans need to be able to comprehend the fact that the American dream is impossible, so when we fail at that, we won't fall as hard as we might if we had full faith in it, and he develops this stance using diction choices, imagery, and characterization.
Have you ever dreamed of becoming someone important or doing something exciting and memorable? Would you give up or refuse to let go of your dream until you achieve it? Has that obsessive under-minded your success? Many people have dreams that they want to accomplish, but there are obstacles individuals have to cross over in order to achieve their goals, such as facing reality. In the book of Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, the story is a tale of two drifters working from farm to farm, trying to make a living, and save some money to have their own place someday, which is their dream during the Great Depression. The characters face the hardships
The novella Of mice and men takes place in salinas valley, California during the Great Depression . At this time work was scarce which caused many men to work as farm hands. Steinbeck illustrates these migrant workers well using two male characters, George and Lennie. Who begin work at a farm, where they meet who also are isolated. Although George, Crooks, and Curley’s wife are all isolated, the each try to make a connection with others: however, tragically in the end their attempts are meaningless.
The hot summer day in South Carolina made Lennie wake up, sweating through the cover sheets protecting his bed. Aunt Clara made Lennie bathe, who reeked of sweat and read the old dusty bible that she had lying around. As Lennie kept reading, he found a quote that read “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34), but Lennie could not solve its meaning. After several hours passed by, Lennie could not take the loud, playful noise from outside and looked desperately out the window, where all the kids were hanging around. The hot air of South Carolina made his body feel like a teapot on the stove. Lennie could not take it anymore and finally cracked open the window,
Biases and inequality towards women have been a problem in society since men foolishly decided to give women the stereotype of being housewives and only good for breeding children. Those who refuse to follow the stereotype are considered promiscuous, or unfaithful towards their significant other. This stereotype was highly expected of women during the early twentieth century, and was also exhibited in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men towards Curley’s wife. Of Mice and Men took place in the 1930s, and the plot follows two best friends trying to achieve their dreams, which lands them in a ranch that will do them nothing but harm. In this ranch, only the strongest may survive, and those who do not follow the usual stereotype were considered weak, and will most likely die. Steinbeck’s theme of death is always feared, but to some it is a way to leave the misery that is the world reveals the social injustices in society causes gender discrimination towards Curley’s wife. The hostility and bitterness towards Curley’s wife did not just lead to her death, but also saved her from the loneliness and isolation she had to go through on the ranch.
Of Mice and Men is a novella set on a ranch in the Northern western state of California written by Californian novelist John Steinbeck and then published in the late 1930’s. Set in the time of The Great Depression and The nationwide effective Wall Street Crash the book features characters all around who have depressing lives but focusing in on two paradoxical characters that are always juxtaposed to one another. Steinbeck has placed us with two characters that we are able to connect with, being able to sympathise with their dilemmas and problems as the two being long-time companions with a strong relationship but also being a priority to George as he
‘Of Mice and Men’, published in 1937, was written by John Steinbeck. This novella was issued during The Great Depression; due to the Wall Street Crash citizens of America lost all their life saving leaving them in an unfortunate position – no work, no money and shattered dreams. Prior to the Depression, people thought that the American dream was possible, but after the Wall Street Crash, individuals began to realise the dream was no longer conceivable. Steinbeck spent a vast majority of his time working with farmers which led him to writing this novella based on the political climate. His intentions were to make individuals around the world understand and realise how the people of America were badly affected because of the Wall Street Crash. Steinbeck set this story in California because this is where half a million male people came for work as they were in need of work. California was known as the Golden Land.
It was eerily quiet within the vicinity of the building. The creaking of the wooden floorboards beneath Lennie’s feet, the rustle of leaves on the opposite side of the wall, and the constant beeping of the home monitoring system was disturbingly loud as he made his way towards the kitchen. The bright neon lights that was placed directly outside his window, proclaiming the words, 'Truth is Knowledge is Power' which was the governments logo projected an array of colours across his kitchen which only resulted in his vision being further eluded. He switched the lights on within his house, blinding himself in the process and stumbled across to the fridge. His stomach growled and his headache sharped piercingly between his ears. He couldn’t wait
Another way, Steinbeck shows How Gorge is a true friend to lennie is through how reliable he is to Lennie. An example of this is Lennie was left alone with Curley's wife in the barn and accidently killed her, by him doing this it made all the workers want to kill him. But instead of them killing Lennie George went off and “pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again, Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand and lay without Quivering,” (106) This quote shows how Gorge is a true reliable friend because A true friend will do whatever they think is good for you. Just like how George went off and killed lennie, so that way he didn’t have to go through even more hell. This shows readers that
Lennie paced around the room, pounding his fists on any wall he could find. With a sour face, he checked every nook and cranny between the page and the text for something taking on the form of a door. A way to escape.
In the book Of Mice and Men there are three people I feel sorry for, and their names are George, Lennie, and Crooks. First, I feel sorry for George because of the fact that he always has to be around Lennie to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn’t do any stupid things. For example when George had to ask Lennie to stop drinking water from the river multiple times. (Steinbeck, 3).
The setting of the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck began south of Soledad, California in a riverbed near the Salinas River. The time was during the 1930s with the Great Depression. The two main protagonists, George and Lennie, enters the scene resting after the long walk toward the new ranch where they would work. They decided to camp out in their newly discovered paradise and wait for tomorrow to do their job. Amid making dinner, George threw away Lennie’s dead mouse and ended the night by comforting themselves by talking about their future plan and dream.
Of Mice And Men' by John Steinbeck is a classic novel, tragedy, written in a social tone. The authorial attitude is idyllic, however, as the story develops it changes into skeptic. It is evident that Steinbeck knew the setting and places he is writing about.