John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ Essay

John Steinbeck was born in 1902, in Salinas, California. He was the trey eldest of the four children born, solely was the only male in the family, as well as his father. He graduated from Salinas High School in 1919, and attended Stanford University, exclusively leaving without a degree. He was employed in the beginning as a sales clerk, farm labourer factory worker. Later, in 1925, he became a construction worker in New York. He wrote his first gear novel, Cup of Gold, in 1929. During the period of the 1930s, he produced most of his towering novels such as To A God Unknown, Tortilla Flat, obscure Battle, Of Mice and Men, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath.The themes of his books can all be classified as social novels dealing with the economic problems of rural labour, but there is also a streak of worship in his books, which does non always agree with his matter-of-fact sociological approach. After 1935, his novels moved to more than serious fiction, of ten bellicose in its social criticism. The novels are in general set in remote farms or by the usual hick country side. He died in New York City in 1968, and his ashes lie down in the Garden of Memories Cemetery in Salinas.Part 2 geographic expedition of the setting of Of Mice and MenThe context of this novel mainly focuses on a small working ranch in the Salinas Valley of Northern California, quondam(prenominal) during the 1930s. It starts beside a stream, close to the Salinas River, a few miles south of Soledad. The four study settings are the clearing by the pond, the bunkhouse, Crooks room and the barn. The save occurs over a period of four to five days and in only four specific locations a wooded heavens adjacent to the Salinas River, a bunkhouse on the ranch, the stable hands room on the ranch and the main barn. The tight structure of setting, revolving around single locations and incessant timing, almost makes the novel seem like a play. It takes place during the s alient Depression, hence the main characters seem poor and desperate for work. Steinbeck had chosen the area of Soledad because in Spanish, it means loneliness, and therefore adds to the essence of Steinbecks story which tells us of how to part-brothers go to find work.Part 3 Historical ContextThe spectacular Depression (1929-1939) * Was a time of extreme hardship for people in Australia * Was caused by the stock-market crash on Wall Street, 1929 * Before this happened, unemployment issues in Australia was already at 10% * After the crash, unemployment in Australia more than doubled to 21% in mid-1930, and reached its peak in mid-1932 when almost 32% of Australians were out of work. migrant Farm Workers * In the early 1930s thousands of desperate workers across the States migrated to California * California advertised an abundance of fertile land, and many migrants were agriculturists * Because the colossal drought had encompassed the Great Plains, many farmers abandoned the land * Californian farmers produced largely fruits and dairy products, but the central valleys of California were poorly irrigated The American imagine * Is essentially an idea that suggests anyone living in the US can get ahead through hard work and has the potential to lead a flourish life * Was created in the 1600s, by immigrant workers on farmsPart 4 heart and soul of the titleThe perfect schemes made by smart organisms (mice and humans) often go wrong because they were not thought out thoroughly. The failing schemes leave cipher but grief and pain, but in the end, it promises joy.