John Steinbeck

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“Go on,” said Lennie. “How's it gonna be. We gonna get a little place.”
“We'll have a cow,” said George. “And we’ll have maybe a pig and chickens... and down the flat we’ll have a... little piece of alfalfa-“
“For the rabbits,” Lennie shouted.
“For the rabbits,” George repeated.
“And I get to tend the rabbits.”
“And you get to tend the rabbits.” (Steinbeck, 102)
This is perhaps one of the most famous quotes in American literature. It shows many different themes at once, especially the ambitions of the two characters, Lennie and George. In Of Mice and Men, these two characters are out in the Midwest looking for work during the time of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Lennie is often a prime example of someone wanting something he cannot have. In the times like that are shown in Of Mice and Men, this is not all that uncommon. At the time that this book is written, the author, John Steinbeck, exemplifies the ambitions of the people actually living during this period through his literature. In fact, most of the events going on during the time of the Great Depression are prevalent in his books. In The Pearl, although it is set in a rural area of Mexico, it shows the themes and characteristics of things going on in the world around John Steinbeck. There were many factors that contributed to Steinbeck’s writing, especially the socially and politically charged times that he wrote in, and his childhood that was influenced by his parents and the naturally beautiful Salinas Valley.
John Steinbeck was born on February 27, 1902 in Salinas, California. As a boy, he grew up in a farming community, and worked on ranches. At the age of fourteen, he decided that he wanted to become a writer. He went to Stanford University, but w...

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...ent most people, including him, were in. The Salinas Valley of California, with its fertile soil and beautiful landscapes, was the place that John Steinbeck called home. He developed a strong connection to nature, and in his books, describing the scene and nature was almost as important as the plot itself. John Steinbeck may have had inspiration from the people and the scenery around him during his adult years, but one of his key influences, in fact most people’s key influences, was his parents. His parents taught him a sense of community and involvement that rings in the background of all his novels. The things he experienced in his lifetime, from the nature of the Salinas Valley to the nurture his parents gave him, and the hardships faced by people around him during the Great Depression all contributed to the themes, motifs, characters, and settings of his novels.

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