John SteinbeckOf Mice & Men

FACTS ABOUT JOHN STEINBECK

• Born: February 27,1902; Salinas, CA

• Graduated from Salinas High School--

• Attended Stanford University--1919-1925

• Of Mice & Men published – 1937

• Died in New York, December 20,1968

SettingBy Salinas & Soledad, California on a ranch in the mid 1930s

Structure

• Of Mice and Men, with its highly restricted focus, is in a novel-play form, which combines qualities of each genre. The story is essentially comprised of three acts of two chapters each. Each chapter or scene contains few descriptions of place, character, or action. Thus, the novel's strength lies in part in its limitations. Action is restricted usually to the bunkhouse. The span of time is limited to three days, sunset Thursday to sunset Sunday.

About Of Mice and Men • When John Steinbeck published Of Mice and Men in

1937, the world was in the grip of the Great Depression. Americans were out of work, breadlines were common, and the future looked grim. In California, there were economic and social problems that increasingly concerned Steinbeck and provided material for three novels about agricultural workers. By the time he wrote Of Mice and Men, the itinerant ranch hands were beginning to be replaced by machinery, and their way of life was fast disappearing.

• Of Mice and Men is a dark tale, a parable of men journeying through a world of pitfalls and brutal, inhumane experiences. Their dreams seem all but doomed, obstacles block their ways, happiness appears to be an impossibility, and human handicaps affect their hopes.

• The power of John Steinbeck's vision is that we, the readers, enter this world and are drawn into the journey of these two men — Lennie and George — and we witness their dreams, their hopes, and their courage.

Terms• Bindle = a load carried on one's back, a bundle • Euchre = a card game • Graybacks = lice • Hoosegow = prison • Luger = A pistol popularly associated with use by

German forces • Skinner = a worker who drives mules• Swamper = a helper who mops the floors & cleans• Booby hatch = an institution for the mentally ill.• Cat house = a house of prostitution.

Characters* Lennie

* George

* Curley* Curley’s Wife

* Candy

* Slim

* Crooks

* Carlson

* Whit

* Aunt Clara

* The Boss

Themes

• Loneliness• Alienation• Meanness• Temptation• Choices• Friendship• The American Dream