contextual factors Of Mice and Men

How many African American were unemployed in 1932?

50%

Unemployment at its peak?

13 to 15 million

Dust bowl?

A period of dust storms in mid-west America causing poor crops and drought.

Number of migrant workers

1.3 million

Who created the American Dream

James Truslow book 1931

Meaning of American Dream

If you work hard you will succeed

Women’s dream

Being in hollywood

Racism 1930s

• Jim Crow laws

• KKK

• Lynching

Wall Street Crash

Stock market crash 1929

‘Of Mice and Men’

Poem by Robert Burns refers to the fact that even the best laid plans go to waste. Resonates with the theme of impertant homes and harshness of life for the vulnerable.

NAACP

• get rid of segregation

• get voting rights for black people

• get equal education for black people

Roosevelt

made ‘black cabinet’ to deal with the need of black people