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Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Background on Steinbeck. Born in Salinas, California in 1902 Most of his famous books written in the 1930s and 1940s Set in California. Background on Steinbeck Cont. Books deal lives and problems of working people Characters are usually
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Background on Steinbeck • Born in Salinas, California in 1902 • Most of his famous books written in the 1930s and 1940s • Set in California
Background on Steinbeck Cont. • Books deal • lives and problems of working people • Characters are usually • immigrants from Mexico or other parts of the U.S. looking for a better life in California
Steinbeck Timeline • 1902 Born Feb. 27th in family home • 1919 Graduated from Salinas High School • 1919-1925 Attended Stanford University • 1925 Went to NYC, working odd jobs, including manual labor for construction of Madison Square Garden. Could not find publisher • 1926 Returned to California
Steinbeck Timeline Cont. • 1929 Cup of Gold became first published novel • 1930 Married Carol Henning • 1934 Mother died in the Salinas home • 1935 Father died • 1936 Of Mice and Men, set around Soledad, was produced as a novel and then a play
Steinbeck Timeline Cont. • 1938 The Grapes of Wrath- Inspired nationwide attention on the living conditions and exploitation of farm workers during the Great Depression • 1940 Film version of The Grapes of Wrath • 1940 Received the Pulitzer Prize for the novel Grapes of Wrath • 1942 Divorced his wife
Steinbeck continued • 1943 Married Gwyndolyn Conger- a war correspondent in Europe for the Herald Tribune of NY during WWII • 1948 Divorced wife again • 1949 Met Elaine Scott • 1950 Married Elaine Scott • 1952 East of Eden, his major work about the history of Salinas Valley published
Steinbeck Continued • 1960 Traveled through America with his poodle to write Travels with Charley. Took his last view of the Salinas Valley from Fremont Peak. • 1962 Accepts the Nobel Prize in Stockholm. • 1968 Died December 20th in New York • 1969 March 4th , his ashes were buried in the Garden of Memories Cemetery in Salinas
Setting of OMAM • Farmland of Salinas Valley • Steinbeck’s father owned land in the area and Steinbeck worked as a farm hand • The ranch in the story • Near Soledad, south-east of Salinas on Salinas River • The town Weed is nearby
Migrant Farm Workers • When OMAM was published almost half America’s grain was harvested by huge combine harvesters • George and Lennie some of the last migrant farm workers • Migrant workers earned $2.50 or $3.00 a day, plus food and very basic accommodation
1930s • Unemployment in United States very bad • New Deal • Agencies sent farmworkers to where they were needed • George and Lennie got their work cards from Murray and Ready’s, one of these agencies
THE AMERICAN DREAM • Immigrants dreamed of a better life in America • Wanted to escape persecution or poverty • For many the dream became a nightmare • Slavery, American civil war, slums, corruption • As a whole the dream ended with the Wall Street crash of 1929
The Dream, not a Dream Anymore • With the crash of Wall Street came the Great Depression • The dream only survived for individuals who made their way west to California • The growing popularity of cinema was the last American dream for many, Curley’s wife was one: “Coulda been in the movies, had nice clothes.”
Why Of Mice and Men? • Title comes from poem by Scottish poet Robert Burns • The best laid schemes o’ mice and men Gang aft agley (often go wrong) And leave us nought but grief and pain For promised joy!
