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Comparison Of John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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In the novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck portrays the lifestyle of typical working man trying to make a living off of work from a ranch. Much like Steinbeck's life, Lennie and George must work their way up to their dream of having their own farm. The novel goes in depth of the struggles and challenges of migrant workers during the Great Depression era. Despite millions of people being out of work during this time, they had to find jobs that would help them survive as well as their families. George and Lennie were forced to move to find new labor, depicting similar situations in both the novel and real life during the Great Depression. Steinbeck connects to the labor workers because of his background, and he depicted the conditions of average …show more content…

George and Lennie portray the average male worker during the Great Depression, homeless, hungry, and looking for work anywhere that would take them. Many people were forced into the manual labor due to drops in loss of jobs and George and Lennie were forced to move around for work. The novel followed the setting of the Great Depression by focusing on the work and other obstacles George and Lennie were put under. "Depictions of these hobos are found in many varieties of art, from paintings, photography, music, and literature. This lesson explores the various representations of depression era migrant farm workers and compares them to migrant farm workers of today." (The Gilder Lehrman Instiute of American History, Of Mice and Men and Migrant Workers of the Depression). George and Lennie were depicted as the perfect set of migrant workers in the years between 1929 and 1939. This time was the most deepest economic down turn in the history of the industrialized Western world. Conditions were worse off, people unemployed, homeless, and dying, and there was nothing to do aside from waiting for employment. "Part of the huge grain growing industry of the American west, Depression Era itinerant farm workers like George and Lennie, mostly single men, traveled by boxcar from farm to farm in search of work and ever since have populated the landscape of the American cultural milieu." (Matthew Clements, Of Mice and Men and migrant workers of the Great Depression). The way workers had to move around, some with families, were just another hoop to jump through and many workers had handle it very well. In order for them to survive and their families they needed work, even if it meant moving around from country side to country side. It was just one of the many struggles of being a laborer, and George and Lennie represented migrants in that way very well throughout the

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932 Words | 4 Pages

John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men follows two migrant farmers and their experiences working towards their dream. The story takes place in the Salinas Valley during both the Dust Bowl and Great Depression, when jobs were few and far between. George and Lennie have a dream of owning land, which is inhibited by these conditions. On the farm they come to work on, they meet the sultry wife of the Curly, the boss’ son. She was deprived of achieving her dream or stardom, and is left constantly craving attention in any way she can get it.

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644 Words | 3 Pages

John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men is the story of two migrant workers, George and Lennie, who are on a mission to live off the “fatta the lan’.” The story is based in 1930s Salinas Valley, California, and shows the troubles that George and Lennie meet while they work on a ranch to earn enough money to buy their own land. After a mishap leads to Lennie killing a rancher’s wife, George kills Lennie as an act of mercy for the safety of others and for Lennie himself. The differences and similarities between George and Lennie give light to what motivates their actions and how they function together.

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568 Words | 3 Pages

"From the dusty fields of the Great Depression emerges a tale of friendship, shattered dreams, and the cruel reality of the American Dream - welcome to the world of Of Mice and Men.” Of Mice and Men is a classic novel by John Steinbeck, first published in 1937, Set during the Great Depression. The story follows the companionship of two migrant workers, George and Lennie, as they travel through California searching for work. The novel explores many traits of loneliness, friendship, and the downfall of the American Dream. Highlighting the harsh reality of life for those at the end of their social life.

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666 Words | 3 Pages

The novel Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck is a gripping tale of two men and their lives during the Great Depression. George Milton and Lennie Small are two migrant workers who travel together finding work. They take on a new job “bucking barley” at a ranch in central California for the ranch owner and his son. While working at the ranch they encounter Curley the ranch owner’s son and his wife, a flirtatious woman. The story reaches a climax when Lennie unintentionally kills Curley’s wife and runs back to the Salinas River just as George instructed.

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1151 Words | 5 Pages

George and Lennie are migrant workers, which mean they go from town to town looking for any work they can get frequently. This book had its tragic at parts and it showed how dreams can be crushed very easily. John Steinbeck in his book, Of Mice and Men,

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162 Words | 1 Pages

In the novel, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, two men named George and Lennie are migrant workers during The Great Depression. George is a small man that is quick with his mind, whereas Lennie is mentally disabled and has a tremendous physique. George has taken on the role of being Lennie’s caretaker after his Aunt Clara died, and they travel together working from ranch to ranch around the Salinas Valley. After a mishap in Weed involving Lennie, George and him had no choice but to flee south and find work elsewhere. They dream of purchasing a piece of land of their own to raise livestock, cultivate crops and live in a small,nice house where they live by their own terms.

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370 Words | 2 Pages

In Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck describes a world where the American Dream is hard to achieve, many people doubt that you may achieve what you want to accomplish and fill up your mind with all of the negativity. Steinbeck paints a moving portrait of America in the 1930’s. Steinbeck reveals the difficulty of which people had to go through during the Great Depression, making the task look easy but accomplishing it was totally difficult for oneself due to everything going on. During the story Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie run away from Weeds, another town they were working at before trouble came. They go to another ranch in Soledad, California getting their way through by making up lies, risking that they might get caught.

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541 Words | 3 Pages

One of John Steinbeck most notable works, Of Mice and Men, a novella based on American life in the 1910s, tells the story of George and Lennie. Two ranch workers based in California who travel around the state trying to find work during the Great Depression. As George and Lennie are hired at a new farm, concepts such as friendship and violence appear in the novella. Steinbeck develops these ideas using elements such as imagery, syntax, and details. Towards the end of chapter one, Lennie and George had gotten into an argument, an argument bad enough for Lennie to suggest that he leaves.

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719 Words | 3 Pages

Of Mice and Men book analysis Argyri John Steinbeck uses the novella ‘Of Mice and Men’ to portray life in the Great Depression Era. The novel tells a story about two men George and Lennie, and their struggles as migrant workers. George cares for Lennie as a he is mentally challenged, this is a burden on George because this is unwanted responsibility and it takes away his freedom to live a normal life. Being mentally challenged in 1930s was not widely accepted by society. This essay will analyse how Steinbeck represents his ideological agenda through his characters.

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715 Words | 3 Pages

In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the era of the Great Depression in the 1930’s is revealed through a simple story of ranch workers who hope to improve their lives. Migrant workers, George and Lennie, have a friendship that is based on trust and protection. The other workers lack the companionship and bond that these two men have. In the novel, the absence and presence of friendship is the motivation for the characters’ actions.

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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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1723 Words | 7 Pages

Since 1931 when James Truslow Adams first created the phrase “the American Dream”, people believed that America continuously offered everyone an equal opportunity to be successful. John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, was set during the Great Depression. Farms were struck hard during the Depression, and the two main characters George and Lennie were farm hands during this time. They had experienced the misunderstandings of other farm hands in terms of Lennie’s mental disability, but they were trying to earn enough money to buy their own farm. The idea of this farm drove Lennie and George to keep working, and like many others during this time they hoped to achieve this dream.

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629 Words | 3 Pages

In “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck, George Milton and Lennie Small are two migrant farm workers who travel together during the Great Depression. George is a small but smart man, while Lennie is a big, and strong man. Even though Lennie is mentally disabled, it doesn't stop him from working. George always says that his life would be so much easier without Lennie, but he always refuses when Lennie offers to leave. George and Lennie share the same dream.

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129 Words | 1 Pages

The setting mainly took place in south of Soledad, California, near the Salinas Valley, during the Great Depression in the 1930’s. Salinas Valley had many substantial farms during the Depression. This was essential because colossal farms employed a massive number of workers, often up to hundreds. Since farm workers with no steady employment, would often head to these communities, it was logical that Salinas Valley was George and Lennie’s destination. Migrant farm workers were perfect examples, to highlight the solitude and loneliness engendered by the Depression. These men had no place to call home, and had only a few belongings to call their own.

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605 Words | 3 Pages

George and Lennie, prominent characters in the story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, are migrant workers—men who move from place to place to do seasonal work— who end up in California and are faced with numerous problems. Set in the era of the great depression, the story of Lennie and George, two very different men who have formed a family-like union, takes place on a farm where Lennie struggles to stay out of trouble. Having committed an unintentional, harmful act, Lennie is faces severe consequences; and George must decide to make a necessary decision which changes the mood of the entire novel. By the comparison and contrast of George and Lennie, unique characters who are very different from each other, the reader can better acquaint himself

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