Of mice and men background
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Of Mice and Men The Background to the Novel
Transcript of Of mice and men background
Of Mice and Men
The Background to the Novel
The Novel
• Of Mice and Men is basically a story about George and Lennie and what happens to them.
• It is also about how the times they lived in (1930s USA) affected their whole lives.
Why did Steinbeck write it?
• John Steinbeck once worked on a ranch so he knew about the conditions people had to work in.
He also knew about the millions of people in America between 1930-1936 who couldn’t find work and who were constantly on the move with their families and their possessions, trying to find work and trying to stay alive.
What Steinbeck saw during these years affected him deeply. As a writer, he felt it was his duty to write about how people were suffering.
The SettingThe novel is set on a ranch in Soledad, near the Salinas Valley in California. This is where Steinbeck was born and grew up.
Migrant Workers
• Migrant workers travel from place to place in search of work.
• In the novel, these workers are lucky to have work but they will have to move on once the job finishes.
Conditions on the Ranch
• The workers were paid little money in return for working long shifts doing hard, physical work.
• They stayed in bunkhouses – often up to 8 men sleeping in a small room.
• They would be fed the cheapest of food.
• If they complained, they would be sacked.
A Bunkhouse
The DustbowlIn California, years of drought and intensive farming practices led to the top soil being blown away. This meant large areas of countryside where nothing would grow.
True/False Quiz
1. Of Mice and Men was written by John Steinbeck.2. It was set in New York, America.3. George and Lennie are migrant farm workers. 4. Migrant workers stayed and worked in one place.5. Millions of people were out of work during the Great
Depression.6. John Steinbeck did not care about them.7. Unemployed people travelled all over America looking for
work.8. The Dustbowl meant large areas of land could not be
farmed.
True/False Quiz Answers
1. Of Mice and Men was written by John Steinbeck. True2. It was set in New York, America. False3. George and Lennie are migrant farm workers. True4. Migrant workers stayed and worked in one place. F5. Millions of people were out of work during the Great
Depression. T6. John Steinbeck did not care about them. F7. Unemployed people travelled all over America looking for
work. T8. The Dustbowl meant large areas of land could not be
farmed. T
