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Comparing John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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“Of Mice and Men” is a play written by John Steinbeck during the 1930’s. Likewise, the play is also set during that time. The play, which centers around two farmer hands’ struggle to achieve their ambitious dream of owning a farm of their own despite harsh external conditions, aims to reflect the lives of middle-class Americans during the Great Depression. The play’s main element, in my opinion, is the fact that it was set in a time of struggle for all socioeconomic classes due to the upperclassmen’s financial catastrophe. Steinbeck brilliantly explores individual struggles in different characters in the play and how they are hidden within a much bigger societal problem that is experienced not only nationally but globally as well. These struggles include racist and sexist discrimination that clearly dominated …show more content…

“Of Mice and Men” is set in Soledad, California, USA. Soledad happens to be located in the southeast of Salinas, where many farms were found during the Great Depression era. There are many immigrants who live in Soledad, like George and Lennie, who migrate in hope of finding work as ranch hands in farms. An interesting fact about Soledad is that it means ‘solitude’ in Spanish. Whether or not Steinback intended this, it perfectly reflects one of the major themes in “Of Mice and Men”, as most characters are completely terrified of ending up alone.
Economic struggles in the 1930’s.
During the 1930’s, the United States witnessed a period of immense struggle, called the Great Depression, when Wall Street’s stock market crashed. People from all socioeconomic classes experienced financial troubles and unemployment rates went as high as affecting around 15 million Americans, who make up a third of the country. The average salary dropped up to 40%, which immediately impacted farming prices as well as other businesses because people could not afford to spend large amounts of

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Kayleigh McFarland English IH Mrs. Walker March 6th, 2018 February Outside Reading: Analytical Question: What is the argument in Jon Krakauer 's Into Thin Air? Jon Krakauer 's Into Thin Air details the story of the disaster in which several climbers died on the slopes of Mt. Everest in 1996, as witnessed by Jon Krakauer. Krakauer recounts the events of the ill-fated expeditions from his own personal experience and makes several suggestions as to what may have led to the climbers being caught high on the mountain when they might have turned back and remained safe. He also examines his own role in the events as they unfolded, and how much he himself is to blame for what happened.

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The critical problems in the late 1920’s, threatening american economy was the older industries such as textiles, steel, and railroads, which were basic to the fundamental well-being of the economy, were barely profitable. Crop prices dropped, americans thought the nation would continue to prosper under Republican leadership. The bottom fell out of the market and the nation's confidence, and half of the banks failed. The causes of the stock market crashed and the Great Depression made the collapse of the economy occur more quickly and the depression worse than it could have been. Many were out of a job, and others experienced pay cuts and reduced hours.

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954 Words | 4 Pages

Of Mice and Men tells a story based in California during the 1930s; of two men who have very different characteristics, but share the same goal. The men, George and Lennie, are migrant workers. At their new job, they meet many individuals: Candy, who is very old and cleans the bunkhouse; Curley, who is the boss’s son; Curley's wife, Crooks, the stable hand; and Slim, who is known as the “prince of the ranch.” Though they recently started, their new job quickly goes downhill. John Steinbeck’s book is carefully written and often uses hints to foretell what will happen next.

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1074 Words | 5 Pages

We read an interesting book called Of Mice And Men, that was written in 1937 by John Steinbeck. Then we watched the movie about the book. In this review, I will tell you the good and the bad thing about the movie. I give this movie three and a half stars.

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635 Words | 3 Pages

The novella Of Mice and Men is a novel by John Steinbeck about two migrant farmers in Salinas,California working on a ranch during the Great Depression era. In the novel Steinbeck explores and conveys many themes such as loneliness and the idea of achieving the American dream. He does this through the use of allusion to further develop the meaning of the text in Of Mice and Men. By using these allusions Steinbeck is also able to enhance the characters and their actions in the novel. Steinbeck makes several allusions to the biblical stories Garden of Eden,The Story of Cain and Abel,and The Fall of Man to develop the meaning Of Mice and Men.

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633 Words | 3 Pages

In my essay I will identify three main points of comparison between the two pieces of literature: ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ and ‘Of Mice and Men’, principally vis-à-vis the writer’s presentation of power and status. The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare. The play’s plotline focusses around the political ambitions of the two main characters, Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth. The play magnifies the damaging physical and psychological effects of such ambitions on those who seek said power for their own personal gain.

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Its effects were felt across the country, and many individuals and families found themselves struggling to make ends meet. Unemployment rose to unprecedented levels, and poverty became widespread. Many

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No matter how good we act or how humane we are, due to our lack of personality and abilities, we can never achieve what we deserve. As individuals, many people do good deeds towards others every day, but nobody earns what they deserve. Everyone is a good person at heart and deserves a better life than what they have now, but due to our limitations we can’t always achieve them, similarly to Lennie and George’s situation as they struggled in the limited world in gaining money for a piece of land as “all men dream of”, “We gotta get a big stake together. I know a little place we can get cheap, but they ain’t givin’ it away” (56). In addition, no matter how good someone is or how hard they work, they will never achieve their dreams because dreams

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1725 Words | 7 Pages

In the novella, Of Mice and Men, the author John Steinbeck illustrates a ranch in the 1930’s during the great depression where those who fit into mainstream society run the show, and those deemed “outcasts” are rendered useless. Steinbeck depicts characters with setbacks that diminish their value in the eyes of society, and contrasts them to characters that have no difficulties conforming to the norm. Crooks, being a black man isolated by his race, and Candy, a elderly man limited by his age and missing limb are examples of Steinbeck characters that experience hardships because of the differences. The poor treatment of Crooks and Candy by the other characters, and their chronic unhappiness in a place that doesn’t value them, comments on how

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1109 Words | 5 Pages

Of Mice and Men: The Microcosm of American Society In his novella, “Of Mice and Men” (1937), John Steinbeck, Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winner, illustrates a microcosm of society on an isolated ranch in the south of Soledad, California to represent the inevitable, harsh outcome for disadvantaged Americans. Steinbeck’s story, based on naturalism and regionalism, is centered on two close friends, Lennie and George, who travel and work together in the lonely life of migrant laborers, which is driven by their “American dream” of having their own ranch. George and Lennie portray those who are marginalized in society based on their social class.

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668 Words | 3 Pages

The essence of humans’ true desires are three simple, alluring words: power, riches and fame. Three words, which put together sound dark, yet enticing. Take that away, and humanity is left with nothing but the company of one another. No heterodoxy exists, and everyone is left contented. This, however, is impossible in reality.

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176 Words | 1 Pages

The Book, Mice, and Men was published in the 1930s and its writer was John Steinbeck. This book is about the sad situations and conditions of the poor and needy immigrant worker, who worked at the farm. They used to sleep and eat in the apartments that were given to the farm workers. In the worst times when the farm workers had no apartments to live, they used to sleep and live outside in the open air and faced the weather of any kind. If observed deeper what they were supposed to be was only the performers who just played a little part in the economy of the farms and dies as poor which was all about them economically, emotionally and personally.

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745 Words | 3 Pages

To better understand the novella Of Mice and Men, the background of the story must be elaborated. The setting of the story takes place in the Salinas Valley, California during the The Great Depression in the 1930s. John Steinbeck, the author, tells about the protagonist, George, and the antagonist, Lennie, and their journey of constantly finding new work to pursue George’s dream to own his farm and “live off the fatta the

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818 Words | 4 Pages

The Great Depression was a period of economic hardship for Americans, lasting from 1929 to the late 1930s. The stock market crash of 1929 set off a chain reaction of events that led to widespread unemployment, poverty, and social upset. The government's response to the crisis was inadequate, and millions of Americans struggled to make ends meet. The various problems faced by Americans during the Great Depression included unemployment, poverty, and the collapse of the banking system, as well as the impact that these problems had on the lives of ordinary people were why this was such a devastating event for the United States. Also, the way the government and society attempted to deal with these problems was part of the reason this event was

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