Social And Historical Context In Of Mice And Men

Of Mice and Men was first published in 1937 so it is useful to learn about its social and historical context. 1. The life of the author. This helps us understand what message about human life/nature he was trying to get across. 2. Life in America in 1937. This help us better understand the events, themes and message of the book. 3. Other famous books / poems Steinbeck refers to in OMAM. This also helps us understand the themes or message.

1. The life of the author. John Steinbeck was born 1902 in Salinas, California, where Of Mice and Men is set. As a teenager, he spent his summers working at ranches (like Lennie and George) as a hired hand.

He saw for himself that the men's lives were hard, that bosses were cruel and that cruel treatment made men cruel and suspicious of each other. He saw how lonely the men were. They slept in bunk houses and none were married. As George says: 'Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place'. As Crooks says: 'I seen hundreds of men come by on the road an' on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an' that same damn thing in their heads . . . every damn one of 'em's got a little piece of land in his head. An' never a God damn one of 'em ever gets it.' Slim also comments on this on pp. 66/67.

Steinbeck made a speech explaining what 'message' he wanted the world to see in his books. He said he wanted to celebrate: 'greatness of heart and spirit ... for gallantry [nobility] in defeat, for courage, compassion [kindness] and love. In the endless war against weakness and despair [giving up], these are the bright rally flags of hope.' Theme: Steinbeck saw how a cruel world, cruel work makes men cruel. This made him think the world he lived in was hard (endless ... weakness and despair) and he wanted to show if people were kind, noble or brave, it was very rare and special.

2. Life in America in 1937. The Great Depression of the 1930s was a huge worldwide 'credit crunch' but much worse. Many people lost their jobs. There was no welfare state or unemployment benefit. Disabled or old people had to depend on their families or charity and keep working for as long as they could. If they did get compensation for injuries (like Candy) it was not enough to live on. Few 'retired'. If people had no job, they had no money and might starve. In the Great Depression, 25% of people had no job. Men could not afford to marry. Those who were already married found when they lost their jobs that they could no longer support their families. It was a frightening time.

There was a lot of competition for jobs. Men became ruthless and suspicious of each other as they fought over limited resources (jobs). Few could afford to be kind or noble, giving up their time to look after the old or the weak out of kindness. The American Dream (working hard and making enough money to look after your family in comfort) was out of most people's reach. Few believed it was possible. Many gave in to despair [giving up].

Theme: how a cruel world, cruel work makes men cruel. If anyone was kind or noble, looking after the disabled, it was very rare and special. Dreams are important to help people keep going, but sometimes life is so hard it is impossible to believe in them. If people believe in a better world, maybe they can make it happen.