context for of mice and men - extended answers

what collapsed in 1929 and what did it lead to

New York Stock Exchange on Wall street - great depression

what happened as a result of the great depression

businesses went bankrupt and previously financially stable people became homeless as unemployment in the city increased dramatically

why can OMAM be considered a work of social protest about the futility of dreaming in such conditions

• In the novella, Steinbeck examines the dreams his characters have to own their own land and provide for their families

• The dream is simplistic in nature (a farm, animals and the ability to make one's own decisions), and represents a desire for freedom

Steinbeck, a political activist and former journalist, raises questions about the exploitation of workers in Of Mice and Men, which leads to their hopelessness:

• This may reflect Steinbeck’s attitudes to landowners, who he believed used the crisis to increase their power and wealth

• Steinbeck describes poor living conditions on the ranch:

  • The bunk-house is infested with bugs and offers limited privacy or comfort 

  • The work on the ranch is hard and dangerous 

what is a result of the great depression in terms of family

families were separated as men began to search for work across the country

what is a result of the GD in terms of drought

lasted much of 1930s and severely affected midwestern regions of America and was accompanied by strong winds that created black blizzards

what was the dust bowl migration

an exodus of families experiencing unemployment and food shortages who abandoned homes, farms and their destroyed crops and so many families travelled to California for work

why is OMAM described as didactic

it contains obvious lessons about discrimination and prejudice:

• The ranch, as a microcosm of society where diverse individuals are forced together, portrays the inherently discriminatory attitudes of 1930s America

• Steinbeck’s disenfranchised characters are unable to escape their suffering

how does steinbeck portray the experiences of marginalised individuals

• Candy and Crooks are physically maimed:

  • Steinbeck draws attention to the many work-based injuries on the ranch

  • For example, Candy’s hand, Curley’s hand (that they say was “caught in a machine”) and Crooks’ injured back as a result of a horse kick

  • George says Lennie’s mental impairment is a result of a horse kicking his head, but he tells Lennie that was a lie

• Candy, old and weak, feels useless and has limited control over his life

• Crooks, so named for his crooked back, is not only physically weakened but is segregated because of his race

• Curley’s wife, the only female on the ranch, is in an oppressive marriage and is killed by a physically stronger character

how does steinbeck show his characters are isolated for their differences and thus have limited status and autonomy

• Crooks does not live with the other men and, instead, lives in the stable:

  • In this way, Steinbeck draws attention to racism, showing how the boss equates Crooks with animals 

  • His “pain tightened lips” imply his silent suffering

• Curley’s wife appears (and is ignored) in the stable and the bunk-house (places that are dominated by the men), and she is killed in the barn

• While most of the men go to town on Saturday night to celebrate, Candy, Lennie, Curley’s wife and Crooks are left behind on the ranch

why can OMAM be considered social realism

• Candy makes sexist and racist slurs when he refers to Curley’s wife and Crooks:

  • However, while Candy sees Curley’s wife as a “tramp”, he describes Crooks as a “nice fella”, implying his racist comments are normalised 

• The inclusion of racial slurs and the constancy with which Candy uses them led to the banning of the novella in certain states

how does the novella depict the characters’ desperation to find happiness and success with a piece of land for which they have worked hard

• The plan is like a dream to George, shown by his dreamy, repeated narration 

• Here, Steinbeck reflects the American Dream: to find freedom and self-made prosperity gained by hard work, unrelated to one’s individual circumstances

significance of the book title

• The book’s title refers to a poem written by Scottish poet, Robert Burns, which describes a mouse who has prepared for winter and created a comfortable home:

  • However, a farmer’s machinery destroys it and forces the mice to flee

  • This relates to events in 1930s America, particularly to itinerant workers who fled as a result of powerful and invisible forces beyond their control

what does steinbeck’s cyclical story and tragic ending suggest

it is impossible for an individual to gain autonomy and achieve their dreams when facing powerful opposition:

• Curley’s wife feels trapped in a loveless marriage with an angry husband

• George and Candy are unable to achieve their dream because of Lennie

how does steinbeck show the damaging and destructive effects of weakened individuals in a society where a desire for individual success creates a competitive environment

• Curley’s wife, in her position on the ranch, violently threatens Crooks:

  • Her dream for admiration and recognition as a filmstar is not realised 

• Crooks, with a far superior intellect, is unwittingly unkind to Lennie:

  • He remains “aloof” and is characterised as cynical and hopeless

• Lennie’s physical strength gains him a job on the ranch:

  • However, his limited cognitive abilities lead to escalating violence

  • He kills a mouse, a puppy and then Curley’s wife

  • Thus, George resorts to violence to resolve his impossible dilemma

what did the dust bowl cause

drought and dust storms swept across several states in mid-west America. This resulted in crops being very poor in these areas, which was coupled with falling prices for food. Small farmers were affected particularly badly by these conditions. Many small farmers were in debt because they would borrow money from banks to buy seeds and then pay back the loans when the crops came in; during the Dust Bowl, farmers could not pay back these loans and could also not afford to feed themselves and their families. In worst case scenarios, this led to banks repossessing farms, making the farmers and their families homeless.

how many people moved to california

1.3 million

by the end of 1932 what percentage of black americans were unemployed

50

poem of robert burns in the 18th century and its meaning

The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft a-gley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promised joy!

The poem is about a mouse who builds a nest in a wheat field ready for the winter, but this is destroyed by a ploughman. The lines above mean The best laid plans of mice and men/Often go wrong/And leave us with nothing but grief and pain/Instead of the joy that was promised. This is linked to the events of Of Mice and Men because George and Lennie’s plan for happiness and safety is also destroyed, leading to pain and suffering at the end of the novel.

quote by james truslow adams in 1931

“Life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement“

what is the american dream

the belief that anyone can succeed through hard-work regardless of background, race, gender, class, religion.

how is the american dream presented in OMAM

• The near impossibility of attaining the American Dream in the face of huge and random challenges, like natural and economic disasters, is the central theme of Steinbeck's novel and lies at the heart of its bleak outlook.

• We see hope for the dream in Lennie and George’s ‘farm dream’ (symbolised for Lennie by rabbits). George says, “We got a future.”

• Candy is drawn into the dream: “I’ll be on our own place.” After Lennie kills Curley’s wife, he is bitterly disappointed when he realises it won’t happen.

• We see cynicism (but also hope) from Crooks: “Nobody never gets to heaven and nobody gets no land”…. “If you guys want a hand to work for nothing” • Curley’s wife has her own version of the dream – to be a Hollywood movie star

how many shares were traded on 29 oct 1929

16 million

facts on the great depression from 1929-1939

• By 1933, nearly half of America’s banks had failed, and unemployment was approaching 15 million people, or 30 percent of the workforce.

• Factories and other businesses slowed down production and began firing their workers. Industrial production dropped by half. For those who were lucky enough to remain employed, wages fell and buying power decreased.

• Many Americans forced to buy on credit fell into debt, and the number of foreclosures and repossessions climbed steadily.

• Homelessness, poverty, starvation and disease became commonplace.

• Farmers couldn’t afford to harvest their crops. Crops rotted in the fields while people elsewhere starved.

• African-Americans suffered especially as they tended to be in low wage jobs lacking employment rights or protection and could see their pay cut or lose their jobs to white workers .

• When the Great Depression began, the United States was the only industrialized country in the world without some form of unemployment insurance or social security.

the dust bowl summary

• In 1930, severe droughts in the Southern Plains brought high winds and dust from Texas to Nebraska, killing people, livestock and crops.

• There was mass migration of people from farmland to cities in search of work.

• People heard that in California the soil was still good and there was plenty of room and opportunity for work. Migrant workers came to California looking for jobs.

• The effects of the Dust Bowl lasted for several years.

examples of economic conditions in OMAM

• The characters suffer as a result of the broader economic situation

• “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world” – George sums up the existential loneliness of itinerant ranch workers moving from place to place, unable to put down roots.

• The characters don’t starve but their rations are simple and basic: “we ain’t got no ketchup”

• The only work they are likely to get is hard, physical labour which will eventually wear them out: “we’ll be bucking grain bags, bustin’ a gut”

• There was no social security or unemployment support so Candy fears what will happen to him when he can no longer work: “When they can me here, I wisht somebody’d shoot me.”

• “Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin them two guys?”. Some, like Carlson, have seen so much suffering and cruelty that they become hardened and lacking in empathy.

facts for the experience of african americans in 1930s

• In post civil-war, post-slavery America, the threat of mob justice or action by militia was ever present for black men. Lynchings of African-Americans were almost routine. A popular jazz song, “Strange Fruit” became controversial for its focus on the topic.

• Violent mob justice was epitomized by the actions of the Ku Klux Klan which terrorised black Americans especially in the South. The KKK had 3 million members during its heyday in the early 1920s. Although it enjoyed considerable support in the South, the KKK was strongest in the Midwest and Southwest. On August 8, 1925, 35,000 members of the Klan marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.

• There was no equal justice. An example this was The Scottsboro Boys Case in 1931 when a group of whites attempted to force a number of black youths of a train. When the black passengers resisted, the whites reported to the city's sheriff that they had been attacked by a group of blacks. The sheriff arrested the black teenagers. Two young white women also accused the black teenagers of rape.

• The case was first heard in Scottsboro, Alabama, in three rushed trials, in which the defendants received poor legal representation. All but one were convicted of rape and sentenced to death, the common sentence in Alabama at the time for black men convicted of raping white women, even though there was medical evidence to suggest that they had not committed the crime.

facts on the era of the jim crow laws

• The Jim Crow laws were a collection of state and local statutes that legalized racial segregation. The laws—which existed from the post-Civil War era until 1968—were meant to marginalize African Americans by denying them the right to vote, hold jobs, get an education or other opportunities. Those who attempted to defy Jim Crow laws often faced arrest, fines, jail sentences, violence and death.

• In California, African Americans faced a raft of discriminatory laws and practices. African Americans could not legally testify against whites in courts of law, nor could they marry across the colour line. Although the laws were not as severe as in some states, they were also routinely barred from streetcars and other public places.

• Even in states where Jim Crow laws were not specifically enacted, the atmosphere of racial discrimination was pervasive.

examples of african americans in OMAM

• The experience of African Americans in the era of the Jim Crow laws is represented by the character of Crooks in the novel.

• Crooks is segregated from the other characters, has “his bunk in the harness room” and is not allowed in the bunk house with the other ranch workers. He plays horseshoes with them but is not allowed to play cards.

• He is intelligent and educated and owns a “mauled” copy of the California civil code.

• He was born in California and his father used to own a chicken ranch: “I ain’t a southern Negro”

• He is resentful of his exclusion and fiercely protective of the few rights he has “This here’s my room. Nobody got any right in here but me.”

• He has a justified fear of what could happen to him which is encapsulated by the threat from Curley’s wife: "I could get you strung upon a tree so easy…”.

• In response to the threat of lynching, Crooks “reduced himself to nothing” indicating that he knows he has no power to prevent mob justice.

facts on women in the 1930s

• Women had the vote but still suffered on an everyday basis from discrimination and misogyny.

• During the Great Depression, employment rates actually rose for women. This was because the jobs available to women were in industries that were less impacted by the stock market such as domestic service, teaching and clerical work.

• A 22 % decline in marriage rates between 1929 and 1939 also meant more single women had to support themselves. Married women were discouraged from working.

• Smaller wages and fewer benefits were the norm for women in the workforce—and this was especially true for women of colour.

• For black women, the entry of more white women in the workforce meant jobs and decent wages became even harder to find.

• Romantic Hollywood movies provided escapism for many women. The stars of the era included Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Jean Harlow and Marlene Dietrich.

examples of women in OMAM

• Women are represented by Curley’s wife, the only woman in the novel. She is nameless, implying she is a possession or an object

• She dresses provocatively in red clothes unsuitable for a farm: “she wore her bright cotton dress and the mules with the red ostrich feathers.”

• She flirts and hangs around the bunk house because she is bored and lonely: “I get lonely…but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley.”

• Hollywood dream has failed so she married Curley but she still thinks about being in the movies: “Coulda been in the movies…”

• She can be cruel “They left all the weak ones here” but shows some kindness towards Lennie

• Unhappy in her marriage: “I don’t like Curley”