The Theme Of The Great Depression In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

The people in the Great Depression were losing all of the money that they had

Of Mice and Men is the classic tale by John Steinbeck of two men trying to achieve the American Dream. But things are not going great for George and Lennie. They move from town to town trying to get a job to be able to afford to get their own property, which is made more difficult by the fact the novel takes place during the Great Depression. Besides the obvious effect of the poverty caused by the Great Depression on the characters that it is the reason George and Lennie are migrant workers, it also causes the characters, not just George and Lennie, to be more suspicious and distrustful of those around them. The setting in which this novel takes place, the Great Depression, causes most of the characters to isolate themselves, everyone except

‘Of Mice and Men’ was written by John Steinbeck and published in 1937. The story is based on migrant workers in California during the time of the Great Depression. The Great Depression was caused by the Wall Street Crash in America which effected many business and banks many of which became bankrupt. This resulted in mass unemployment, inflation and economic migration from the city to the countryside. Steinbeck wrote this novel to show what life was like for low-paid, poor workers and to show how the Great Depression effected American people. He represents what life was like for many unprivileged people in 1930s America: migrant workers, women and black Americans.

In the novella ‘Of Mice and Men’, Steinbeck presents the ranch in a ruthless and brutal way. He portrays a patriarchal society dominated only by white robust men. Steinbeck illustrates the different views and opinions of the social hierarchy in the ranch life. As well as Steinbeck displays the harsh and violent atmosphere where the newcomers are restricted and victimized by the other members of the ranch. Therefore Steinbeck creates a world in his perception where he characterizes the predicaments of women, black people, crippled people and those with mental disabilities revealing the mistreatment and agony they have to encounter. This denotes that Steinbeck portrays the ranch as harsh and violent abode.

One of the major themes of John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men is that having a dream creates hope, friendship, and determination, enabling one to strive onward in life with a sense of importance. Three major examples show this idea. The first example is Candy’s loss of his dog and his joining George and Lennie 's dream of owning land. A second example is Crook’s memory of his father’s

The novella “Of Mice and Men” written by John Steinbeck in 1937 is a novel that juxtaposes hope and dreams against hardships and perseverance. Readers are positioned to accept the unattainability of the American dream during the great depression. The statement “...every damn one of ‘em’s got a little piece of land in his head. And never a God damn one of ‘em ever gets it” (Pg.73) is plausible to a great extent, exemplified through the failure of several characters hoping in achieving their own dreams. This is mainly emphasised with George and Lennie’s goal to own land, Crookes dream of racial equality and Curley’s wife’s wish of being noticed in society.

John Steinbeck’s book Of Mice and Men is an extraordinary novel with unique characteristics. The novel is about an uncommon friendship between two extremely different individuals who are living and working together. This story belong to the genres tragic realistic fiction, historical fiction and drama. The linking between the novel and The Great Depression emphasizes throughout the story, which makes the novel very realistic and down to earth. The author touches on several themes such as: the unreachable American dream, the economic injustices, loneliness, friendship and people’s propensity for cruelty. In this book review, we will get into a deeper understanding of what the actual story means.

During the Great Depression, many people relied on their dreams to keep them going through hard times. More than half of men in the U.S. did not have enough money to support their families. Similarly, in John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, George Milton struggles to support himself and his companion, Lennie Small. In Steinbeck’s novel, George Milton and Lennie Small labor on farms to earn money for “a place of their own” with “colorful rabbits.” This dream keeps George and Lennie focused on a future happiness, despite society’s cruel rejection of Lennie.

In a fantastical adventure involving flying monkeys, apple-hurling trees, and the classic yellow brick road, The Wizard of Oz movie tells the tale of a young girl overcoming zany obstacles to return home to Kansas. She eventually realizes that "there 's no place like home" after finding herself not belonging to the world of fantasies. Likewise, John Steinbeck 's Of Mice and Men depicts two young men, George and Lennie, trying to find their own Kansas during the recovery period from the Great Depression. It becomes clear that they have one goal in mind: to live on their own farm. Lennie is oblivious to his surroundings and conditions, and George is constantly there to remind him of the dream and foster the illusion that everything will be okay. Because it restrains them, slowly feeding them the reality and doubt if there is somewhere to belong at all, this eventually causes problems to arise not only to George and Lennie, but to others chasing after this fantasy as well. The resilient belief in the American Dream and poisonous reality of current times eventually clash, creating conflict internally and externally for the characters caught in the crossfire. Among the numerous laborers and workers dumbstruck by this idyllic life, Candy is one of the most affected by this dream. Thus, the character of Candy highlights a central conflict during the Great Depression era: identity, or where one stands between the reality and fantasies, versus the harsh setting.

In the novella Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie, two migrant ranch workers, always end up searching for a new job because of the trouble Lennie puts them in. As they travel together, they develop a dream for a better life for them. This dream not only expresses what they want in life, but also how dreams can drive people’s lives. John Steinbeck, the author of this book, has used many literary devices to increase recognition and importance of this dream. George and Lennie’s dream includes a little house and a couple acres with cows, pigs, and most importantly, rabbits.

Around the time of Great Depression people chased the American Dream in an attempt to escape from their reality. In the book of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck introduces a story of two men struggling to achieve their dream of owning land. The book touches lots of issues that existed around the time it was written. The story has many that characters faced prejudices such as being colored, mentally ill, old or a woman. In the story there are characters with broken dreams due to their position in society such as Curley’s wife who couldn't be a star or Candy who was unable to live with George and Lennie because Lennie screwed up due to his tendency to”..pet nice things.” George and Lennie struggle to buy an acre of land by salvaging enough

The novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is placed in the time period of the Great Depression. Poverty haunted the minds of men and made them evil and twisted. Dreams were the only source of comfort after a day’s work in the ranch as seen in Lennie and George’s dream of buying their own ranch and “ livin’ fatta’ of the land’ ”To achieve their dream now was harder than ever due to depletion in money during the Great Depression. After George kills Lennie, he realizes that by killing Lennie, the dream got killed too. Steinbeck shows that dreams amount to nothing unless you have someone to share them with which is seen in the cases of George and Lennie, Candy, and finally Curley’s wife.

In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses “the dream” as one of the themes in the book, and it is important to many characters including Lennie, George, Candy, and Curley’s wife. During the Great Depression, all of the migrant workers have one dream called the American Dream. In Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie work at a ranch with several other people, and Lennie cannot do anything right. This eventually leads to the death of Lennie. George and Lennie want to move out of the ranch when they can afford to buy a piece of land.

The novel ‘Of Mice and Men’, written by John Steinbeck is a truly fascinating novel based upon the theme of dreams. This novel was published in 1937, which was towards the end of ‘The Great Depression’ that hit the United States. The novel was set in Soledad, California, during the same time period as published. This was an era in which the economy collapsed; many Americans lost their jobs, therefore leading into a lot of poverty and despair. Although many people were depressed, this was also the era of dreams. This is what Steinbeck’s novel is all about, dreams

John Steinbeck wrote ‘Of Mice and Men’ to show how hard life was for migrant ranch workers during the time of the Great Depression and how they were often exploited by their employers. In showing how George and Lennie’s dream of owning their own piece of land did not come true, Steinbeck explores a wider theme, criticising the idea of the American Dream. The American Dream tells people that there is ‘opportunity for each... regardless of the fortuitous circumstance of birth and position. Steinbeck criticises this as these ranch workers were given few opportunities. Settings play a very important part in the novel as they pinpoint clear times and places giving a sense of realism to the story, but they are also used to create atmosphere.