Of Mice and Men

The novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck represent a sociological advancement of family life and culture compared to the time it was written. It is a story about all aspects of friendship and the American dream. Steinbeck uses two migrant workers, Lennie and George, to illustrate the main themes of the novel. The novel is set during the Great Depression, in the year 1937 in California. Of Mice and Men was written in 1935 and 1936 and first published as a novel in 1937 at the height of the Depression. Steinbeck constructed the book around dramatic scenes so that he could easily rewrite it for the stage, which he did with the help of George S. Kaufmann.

During the late 1930s, California was struggling not only with the economic problems of the Great Depression, but also with severe labor strife. Labor conflicts occurred on the docks and packing sheds and fields. Steinbeck wrote movingly about the struggles of migrant farm workers in Of Mice and Men (1937). Agriculture as a working culture was undergoing an historic change. In 1938, about half the nation's grain was harvested by mechanical combines that enabled five men to do the work that had previously required 350. Only a short time before, thousands of itinerant single men had roamed the western states following the harvests (Steinbeck, 35). Their labor had been essential to the success of the large farms.

In short, California's agriculture was not "farming" in the traditional sense. It was an industry like the lumber and oil industries. At the end of the 1930s, one-third of all large-scale farms in the United States were in California, reflecting the trend toward corporate farming. These farms had greatly fluctuating labor demands, and owners encouraged heavy immigration of low wage foreign workers, usually ...