Historical Context of Of Mice and Men

John Steinbeck,

1937

setting

Time: @1932-1937

Place: Soledad, Salinas Valley, Monterey County

Conflict: Great Plains migrants seeking work

Salinas, California

Central California Coast (West of Monterey, East of Fresno, South of San Jose)

Economy: “Salad Bowl of the World”, vineyards, cattle ranches

Within 20 miles of the Pacific

Steinbeck’s Family and Influences

B. 1902 Parents = educated Dad moved “West” after civil

war & bought land Mom read to him as child:

King Arthur, The Bible,

Treasure Island Loved nature, observed

man’s relationship to

the land

Steinbeck’s Childhood

Grew up in Salinas Work on cattle ranches as teen Worked on farms as a college student Saw lives of itinerant workers first hand

The Depression

Published his 1st book 2 months before the stock market crash

Time: 1933-1935

The Great Depression begins on October 24, 1929 with the stock market crash

Inquiry Question

What would be an affect of the stock market crash for wealthy people?

For average people?

By January 1933, unemployment reached 14,597,000.

Inquiry Question: How is this graph related to the previous one of the stock market crash?

Inquiry Question: What does this photo say about the Great Depression? How is it ironic?

The land had been over-farmed for decades, then drought that began in the early 1930s that created even more issues on the Great Plains.

Inquiry Question: What is the effect of overworked and moisture poor land?

As a result of drought and over-farming, the soil was dry and unanchored with crops. Great dust storms (literally) erupted several times. One even traveled from the Midwest to Washington D.C.

“Last weekend was the worst dust storm we ever had. Many days this spring the air is just full of dirt coming, literally hundreds of miles. After we wash dishes and put them away, so much dust sifts into the cupboards we must wash them again before the next meal.

-Ann Marie Low, from Dust Bowl Diary

After the soil was eroded, rain did as much damage to the land as the wind storms.

In South and Great Plains hundreds of thousands of people were evicted from their homes and farms because of the economy or drought.

Inquiry Question

What was the total affect of the “Dust Bowl” on the farmers?

What do you think your reaction would have been?

Hoovervilles

Many evictees lived in random towns of tents and shacks made of cardboard, tar paper, scrap wood or metal called “Hoovervilles”.

Here were all these people living in old, rusted-out car bodies. . . . There were peopleliving in shacks made of orange crates. One family with a whole lot of

kids were living in a piano box. --a visitor to a shantytown outside of Oklahoma

City

Migration

Approximately two million men—many who had left families behind—wandered the country, hitching rides on the box cars of railroads (Hobo) and sleeping under bridges.

Soon Families began to leave as well

Great migrations started out of towards the West and Northwest.

Inquiry Question

In what ways did migrating to California give people hope?

In what ways were their hopes crushed?

Itinerant Workers

Salinas Valley used itinerant labor (Hispanic, Japanese, white) before the Depression

Labor market flooded afterward Steinbeck saw these people working himself

on ranches and farms

Itinerant Homelife

Inquiry Question

What is the result of a flooded labor market?

Labor Clashes

Wages dropped Unfair working conditions Over-abundance of labor Increased use of technology

Inquiry Question

As a writer, how do you think Steinbeck makes his story so real and authentic?

Steinbeck’s Résumé

Steinbeck watched hundreds of people from the Great Plains and South migrate to CA looking for work.

He wrote articles for newspapers on the itinerant workers while writing Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath.

He lived in Hoovervilles and traveled across the country with them.

Once in California, he literally lived the life of an itinerant farm laborer.

Why Read the book?

An accurate portrayal of the lives of itinerant workers of the Great Depression

Demonstrates history of labor vs. employer Shows loss of the small, family owned farms

and growth of vast, corporate farms

Summary

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