Historical Analysis Of John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

OMAM Information Sheet

Title of Work: Of Mine and Men

Author and Date Written: John Steinbeck; 1937

Historical Context: The novel Of Mice and Men takes place during the Great Depression, followed with a surplus of evidence. Found on page 11 is the following context: “[...] I could get a job an’ work, an’ no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want.” Considering such low pay for such hefty labor that has been mentioned to be, it is made clear that George (the person that was ‘quoted’ verbatim) is a minimum wage worker that earns very little for the amount of labor he does. Albeit the exact year hasn’t been stated in the beginning of the book, it may have

Explanation: Lennie has an evident child characteristic that people tend to point out, at time in genuine concern. In addition, the abnormal mentality causes Lennie to seem very susceptible to threats, even if he is much stronger than the entity. This is followed by the following quote of how people see Lennie through acumen by his physique rather than his personality. b. Quote: “‘Look, Lennie! This here ain’t no setup. I’m scared. You gonna have trouble with that Curley guy, I seen that kind before. He was kinda feelin you out. He figures he’s got you scared and he’s gonna take a sock at you the first chance he gets,’” (Page 29 of Of Mice and Men). i. Explanation: The character Curley attempts to seem domineer towards Lennie due to his physique, which can be traced by envy. In his first impressions, Curley tries to make Lennie speak, but because Lennie is docile to George he did not. Thus, giving Curley a greater chance to be ‘formidable’. This is all because of Curley 's wife being a ‘tart’ (in order words promiscuous), and Curley trying to avoid another man being a suitor towards his

To enumerate, some employees are marginalized by their bosses that they are treated as if they were rodents, mice in this case. In the beginning of the book, Lennie divulges his obsession with petting mice, dead ones in addition, which puts emphasis of the title. Lennie, being the benevolent person he is, treats everyone equally with care. He cares for animals, but his penchant of caring for mice leads to how he cares for workers that are treated insignificantly. Therefore, the title “Of Mice and Men” is symbolic for how employees are treated like animals during the Great Depression. The author may have wanted people to think the title has no meaning, until the end of the book when the story has truly been