What you need to know before reading

John Steinbeck• Born in Salinas, California, in 1902.• Most famous novels include Tortilla Flat, Of Mice

and Men, East of Eden, and The Grapes of Wrath.• Awarded the Pulitzer Prize for

fiction in 1939.• Awarded the Nobel Prize for

literature in 1962.• Died in 1968.

Of Mice and Men• Published in 1937.• Set during the Great

Depression in Salinas,California.

• About two migrant farm workers, George and Lennie, who are chasing the American Dream.

• Lennie is mentally handicapped.

The Great Depression• The stock market crashed on October 24, 1929, now

called “Black Thursday”.• An estimated $30 billion in stock values were lost by

mid-November.• Millions of people lost their jobs, businesses, and

homes.• Although Franklin Roosevelt instituted the New Deal in

1933, unemployment was still high.• In 1941, America became involved in World War 2,

which created many jobs for Americans.

Rights for the Mentally Ill• In the 1900s, there was much prejudice against

the mentally ill.• Procedures intended to “fix” mental retardation:– Hypnotism– Electrotherapy– Lobotomy

• In 1946, the National Mental Health Act was signed and allowed for more research.

• Deinstitutionalization occurred in the mid-1960s.

Civil Rights• 13th amendment ended slavery.• 14th amendment granted African Americans

citizenship.• 15th amendment gave African Americans the right

to vote.• Racial tension and membership in the Ku Klux

Klan was high in the 1920s.• Until 1965, Jim Crow laws created second-class

status to African Americans.