Of Mice and Men By John Steinbeck

Of Mice and Men By John Steinbeck

1. How significant is the theme of loneliness in Of Mice and Men?

2. To what extent is it correct that The Great Gatsby, Death of a

Salesman and Of Mice and Men explore important, but different aspects

of ‘The American Dream’?

3. What is the importance of dreams and dreaming to the success of Of

Mice and Men?

A. Background Information

Describe the historical background to the novel i.e. the USA in the

mid/late 1930’s

The USA of the mid and late 1930 was still suffering from the Great

Depression. Many thousands were unemployed and had lost their homes.

These people would often wander around the country, searching for jobs

and a place to rest. John Steinbeck clearly outlines the lives of

these men, traveling around from one job to the next, in his book Of

Mice and Men.

The depression had been caused by the stock market crash in 1929. Most

Americans blamed President Hoover because he had been the President at

the time and did know what to do about it. The Midwest suffered even

more as the dust bowl crisis came into play. As the employees were

dependant on their jobs employers could easily cut wages or even make

them move at their will. When Roosevelt came into office he initiated

many government programs supporting the suffering Americans.

B. Summary

Write a plot summary

George Milton and Lennie Small, two migrant workers, arrive south of

Soledad and spend a night next to Salinas River. As the two settle

down it becomes clear that Lennie, a tall man with a “shapeless” face,

has some sort of mental disability while George is relatively short

and seems rather intelligent. Lennie also seems dependant of George as

he looks out for him and helps h...

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...ackground and makes a fortune. This still

does not enable him to reach what he is actually longing for, his love

Daisy. He has no reputation and does not belong to the American

aristocracy and exactly that is what keeps him from fulfilling his

dream. At last he dies in protecting Daisy. This seems extremely

unfair and is clearly a criticism on this aspect of the American

Dream.

All of these three different books have given different views on the

American Dream and spotlighted on different aspects of it. Every

single one of these aspects is as important as the other ones no

matter whether they are critical or have a positive message towards

the American Dream. Some of these seem to overlap and contradict but

overall it becomes very clear when looking at all three pieces of

writing what the flaws of the American Dream are and what is so

special about it.