Of Mice and Men

By John
Steinbeck
John Steinbeck
One of The Great American
Writers of the 20th Century
 A Look at the Author
 Born February 27th in 1902 in Salinas, California,
John was the third of four children, and the only son.

 During his childhood, Steinbeck

learned to appreciate his surroundings,
and loved the Salinas countryside and
the nearby Pacific Ocean; it would be
this appreciation that would later come
out in his writing.

 Steinbeck worked during his summers as a hired

hand in nearby ranches.
The Fields of Salinas,
California
 The Beauty of Salinas
 Rich, fertile soil
 At the age of 14 he decided to be a writer
and spent a lot of time writing in his room.

 In high school, Steinbeck did well in English

and edited the school yearbook.

 From 1919-1925 Steinbeck attended Stanford

University to please his parents, but only chose
courses that interested him, classical and British
Literature, writing courses, and an odd science
course.

 However, Steinbeck did not receive a degree

because he would drop in and out of school,
sometimes to work with migrant workers and
bindlestiffs on California ranches.
What’s a Bindlestiff?

A hobo, especially one who carries a bedroll.

 During the late 1920s and 1930s, he concentrated on
writing and wrote several novels set in California.

 Steinbeck gained
great success by
readers and critics.
 In 1929, he published his first novel, Cup of Gold

 In 1930, Steinbeck married Carol Henning, and they

moved into his family’s home. His father helped support
the struggling couple, but unfortunately, they divorced in
1942.

 In 1935, he won his first literary prize,

Commonwealth Club of California
Gold Medal for Best Novel by a
Californian for his novel, Tortilla Flat.

 In 1936, Of Mice and Men was published,

and was so widely accepted that Steinbeck
began a book tour that led him to Europe.
 In 1939, The Grapes of Wrath
was published and became an
instant best-seller; in 1940 it was
awarded the Pulitzer Prize, one
of the most prestigious literary
awards in the world.

 This novel, just like Of Mice and Men,

stemmed from his experience working
among migrant workers.

 Steinbeck’s experiences in the fields

researching migrant workers led him to
have more compassion for these workers,
and stirred up his concern for social
justice.
 In 1943 he married Gwendolyn
Conger who would father him two
sons before their divorce in 1948.

 In 1943 Steinbeck
worked as a war corre-
spondent for the New
York newspaper, Herald
Tribune.
 While living in Monterey, California,
Steinbeck said that he felt unwelcome
as no one would rent him an office for
writing, and he was harassed when
trying to get fuel and wood from a local
wartime rations board. 

 Steinbeck wrote that his old friends did

not want to be around him, partly
because of his works, and partly
because he was so successful: “This
isn't my country anymore. And it won't
be until I am dead. It makes me very
sad.” He left Monterey the next year
and moved to New York.
 In 1948 he moved back to Monterey. A year
later he met Elaine Scott, who in 1950 became
his third wife.

 Although he continued to write and publish, he

never felt at ease in his life, and once wrote to
an aspiring writer from Salinas:

“Don't think for a moment that you will ever be

forgiven for being what they call ‘different.’ You
won’t! I still have not been forgiven. Only when
I am delivered in a pine box will I be considered
‘safe.’ After I had written the Grapes of Wrath
the librarians at the Salinas Public Library, who
had known my folks remarked that is was lucky
my parents were dead so that they did not have
to suffer this shame.” 
 One of Steinbeck’s two sons fought in the
Vietnam War, while Steinbeck himself was
in Asia covering the war for Newsday, a
Long Island newspaper.

 Steinbeck lost a number of friends

during the anti-war movement due to
his open support of the war and
America’s involvement.
 Steinbeck’s last two
books were nonfiction.
 Travels with Charley in
Search of America was
an account of his trip
from Maine to
California with his
poodle, Charley.
 His final book,
America and the
Americans, was about
his belief that in time,
America would once
again feel united.
 John Steinbeck died on December 20, 1968, at
his apartment in New York City.

 His wife took him home to Salinas to be buried

near the land that he spent his life writing
about.
 Mural overlooking The
National Steinbeck Center in
Salinas
 The Book
Of Mice and Men was originally called
Something That Happened.
 When Steinbeck first thought of the idea
for the book he intended it to be for
children. Steinbeck told a friend that he
was experimenting with a new “dramatic
form.”
In May 1936, he wrote a manuscript, but
his puppy (a setter called Toby) ate it!
He said of the book:
"It is an experiment and I don't know
how successful."
 Of Mice and Men
 The novel deals
with the issues dear
to Steinbeck’s heart
- poverty,
homelessness, the
exploitation of
itinerant workers,
the failure of the
Dream, America’s
general moral
decline.
Main Characters: Lennie
& George
 Lennie Small
 Lennie is a large, lumbering,
childlike migrant worker. Due
to his mild mental disability,
Lennie completely depends
upon George, his friend and
traveling companion, for
guidance and protection. The
two men share a vision of a
farm that they will own
together, a vision that Lennie
believes in wholeheartedly.
Gentle and kind, Lennie
nevertheless does not
understand his own strength.
His love of petting soft things,
such as small animals,
dresses, and people’s hair,
leads to disaster.
 George Milton
 George is a small, wiry, quick-
witted man who travels with,
and cares for, Lennie.
Although he frequently
speaks of how much better
his life would be without his
caretaking responsibilities,
George is obviously devoted
to Lennie. George’s behavior
is motivated by the desire to
protect Lennie and,
eventually, deliver them both
to the farm of their dreams.
Though George is the source
for the often-told story of life
on their future farm, it is
Lennie’s childlike faith that
enables George to actually
believe his account of their
future.
George and Lennie go to a ranch near Salinas,
California, to
work. George is Lennie’s keeper, and Lennie
imitates
everything that George does. Lennie
previously had been
kicked out of a town for grabbing a girl’s
dress. He simply
liked to touch soft items. That is also the
reason that he has
 The setting in Of Mice and
Men
 The novel is set in the
farmland of the Salinas
valley, where John
Steinbeck was born.
 The ranch in the novel is
near Soledad, which is
south-east of Salinas on
the Salinas river.
 The countryside described
at the beginning of the
novel, and the ranch itself
is based on Steinbeck’s
own experiences.
Soledad, California
California in the 1930s
Why Migrant Workers?
 Before technology
created farm machinery,
humans had to do a lot
of the farm work by
hand.
 Between the 1880s and
the 1930s, thousands of
men would travel the
countryside in search of
work.
 Such work included the
harvesting of wheat and
barley.
 Migrant Workers
 These workers would earn
$2.50 or $3.00 a day, plus
food and shelter.
 During the 1930s, the
unemployment rate was high
in the U.S., and with so many
men searching for work,
agencies were set up to send
farm workers to where they
were needed.
 In the novel, George and
Lennie (the two main
characters) were given work
cards from Murray and
Ready’s, which was one of
the farm work agencies.
 Chasing the American Dream
 “Give me your tired, your
poor, your huddled masses
yearning to breathe free,
the wretched refuse of your
teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless,
tempest tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the
golden door.”
( Emma Lazarus)

Written on the base of the

Statue of Liberty
 The American Dream

 You can be successful if you

work hard and live morally.
 America is the land of
opportunity.
 Freedom to work hard and
be happy is enshrined in
the Constitution.
 The Dream assumes
equality of opportunity, no
discrimination, freedom to
follow goals and freedom
from victimization.
 The American Dream
 From the 17th Century
onwards, immigrants have
dreamed of a better life in
America.
 Many people immigrated to
America in search of a new
life for themselves or their
families.
 Many others immigrated to
escape persecution or
poverty in their homeland.
 Immigrants dreamed of
making their fortunes
in America.
 For many this dream of
riches became a
nightmare.
– there were horrors of
slavery,
– there were horrors of
the American Civil War,
– there was a growing
number of slums that
were just as bad as
those in Europe,
– there was also great
corruption in the
American political
system which led to
many shattered hopes.
 The idea of an American Dream for
many was broken when in 1929,
the Wall Street crashed, marking
the beginning of the Great
Depression.

 This era affected the whole world

during the 1930s, but even in the
midst of hardship, some people’s
dreams survived.

 Thousands of people made their

way west towards California to
escape from their farmlands in the
Midwest that were failing due to
drought.

 The characters of George and

Lennie dreamt of having a “little
house and a couple of acres”
which was their own dream.
Is the American dream possible in the
historical context of the novel?
 Dreams
 George and Lennie have a
dream, even before they
arrive at their new job on the
ranch, to make enough
money to live "off the fat of
the land" and be their own
bosses. Lennie will be
permitted, then, to tend the
rabbits.
 Dreams
 When George goes into a full
description of the dream farm, its
Eden-like qualities become even more
apparent. All the food they want will
be right there, with minimal effort. As
Lennie says:
– "We could live offa the fatta the lan'."
 When George talks about their farm,
he twice describes it in terms of
things he loved in childhood:
– "I could build a smoke house like the
one gran'pa had..."
 George yearns for his future to reflect
the beauty of his childhood.
– "An' we'd keep a few pigeons to go
flyin' around the win'mill like they done
when I was a kid."
Meet the Other Characters
 Candy

 Curley

 Curley’s Wife
 Crooks

 Slim

 Carlson
 Candy
 Candy is an aging ranch
handyman, Candy lost his
hand in an accident and
worries about his future on
the ranch. Fearing that his
age is making him useless, he
seizes on George’s description
of the farm he and Lennie will
have, offering his life’s
savings if he can join George
and Lennie in owning the
land. The fate of Candy’s
ancient dog, which Carlson
shoots in the back of the head
in an alleged act of mercy,
foreshadows the manner of
Lennie’s death.
 Curley
 Curley is the boss’s son,
Curley wears high-heeled
boots to distinguish himself
from the field hands.
Rumored to be a champion
prizefighter, he is a
confrontational, mean-
spirited, and aggressive
young man who seeks to
compensate for his small
stature by picking fights
with larger men. Recently
married, Curley is plagued
with jealous suspicions and
is extremely possessive of
his flirtatious young wife.
 Curley’s Wife
 Curley’s wife is the only
female character in the novel,
Curley’s wife is never given a
name and is only referred to
in reference to her husband.
The men on the farm refer to
her as a “tramp,” a “tart,” and
a “looloo.” Dressed in fancy,
feathered red shoes, she
represents the temptation of
female sexuality in a male-
dominated world. Steinbeck
depicts Curley’s wife not as a
villain, but rather as a victim.
Like the ranch-hands, she is
desperately lonely and has
broken dreams of a better life.
 Crooks
 Crooks, the black stable-hand, gets his name from his
crooked back. Proud, bitter, and caustically funny, he is
isolated from the other men because of the color of his skin.
Despite himself, Crooks becomes fond of Lennie, and though
he derisively claims to have seen countless men following
empty dreams of buying their own land, he asks Lennie if he
can go with them and hoe in the garden.
 Slim
 A highly skilled mule driver and the acknowledged “prince” of
the ranch, Slim is the only character who seems to be at peace
with himself. The other characters often look to Slim for advice.
For instance, only after Slim agrees that Candy should put his
decrepit dog out of its misery, does the old man agree to let
Carlson shoot it. A quiet, insightful man, Slim alone understands
the nature of the bond between George and Lennie, and
comforts George at the novel’s tragic ending.
 Other Characters
 Carlson -  A ranch-hand, Carlson complains bitterly about
Candy’s old, smelly dog. He convinces Candy to put the dog
out of its misery. When Candy finally agrees, Carlson
promises to execute the task without causing the animal
any suffering. Later, George uses Carlson’s gun to shoot
Lennie.
 The Boss -  The stocky, well-dressed man in charge of the
ranch, and Curley’s father. He is never named and appears
only once, but seems to be a fair-minded man. Candy
happily reports that he once delivered a gallon of whiskey
to the ranch-hands on Christmas Day.
 Aunt Clara  - Lennie’s aunt, who cared for him until her
death, does not actually appear in the novel except in the
end, as a vision chastising Lennie for causing trouble for
George. By all accounts, she was a kind, patient woman
who took good care of Lennie and gave him plenty of mice
to pet.
Themes in Of Mice and Men
 The Nature of Dreams
– In essence, Of Mice and Men is as much a story
about the nature of human dreams and aspirations
and the forces that work against them as it is the
story of two men.
– Humans give meaning to their lives—and to their
futures—by creating dreams. Without dreams and
goals, life is an endless stream of days that have
little connection or meaning.
– George and Lennie’s dream—to own a little farm of
their own—is so central to Of Mice and Men that it
appears in some form in five of the six chapters.
 Loneliness
– In addition to dreams, humans crave contact with
others to give life meaning. Loneliness is present
throughout this novel.
Themes in Of Mice and Men
 Powerlessness
– Steinbeck’s characters are often the underdogs, and he shows
compassion toward them throughout the body of his writings.
Powerlessness takes many forms—intellectual, financial,
societal—and Steinbeck touches on them all.
 Fate
– Life’s unpredictable nature is another subject that defines the
human condition. Just when it appears that George and Lennie
will get their farm, fate steps in.
 My Brother’s Keeper
– Steinbeck makes the reader wonder whether mankind should
go alone in the world or be responsible and helpful to others
who are less fortunate.
 Nature
– Steinbeck uses nature images to reinforce his themes and to
set the mood.
 Of Mice and Men – Title’s
Origin
 The title of the novel comes from a
poem by the Scottish poet Robert
Burns (1759 -96)

The best laid schemes o’ mice and men

Gang aft agley [often go wrong]
And leave us nought but grief and pain
For promised joy!

The best laid schemes of mice

and men often go wrong-
referring to a little mouse who
had so carefully built her
burrow in a field to protect
herself and her little mice
babies – and the burrow is
turned over and destroyed by
the man plowing.
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