Have you ever read a book and wondered why or what caused the author to write that specific story? It is a good thing to think about so you can understand the reading a bit more than you may have before. The author John Steinbeck is one you may know when you were young you may have read his classic Of Mice and Men. It can make you wonder why he wrote this story. Why is he important enough to read about? John Steinbeck’s life started in Salinas California, on February 27, 1902 (Covici xxxi, xxxvii). His mother was a schoolteacher (Covici xxxi). His father was a county treasurer (Major 2671). John Steinbeck was named after his father. John Steinbeck had three sisters. (Covici xxxi). John Steinbeck started reading at a very early age. His father was the first to notice his interest in books and writing so, he encouraged him (Exploring Novels 1). The books John Steinbeck was really drawn to where the Bible, Greek historians, and Malory’s Morte d’ Arthur (Covici xxxi). John Steinbeck graduated high school in 1919. The year after in 1920, he enrolled in Stanford University (Covici xxxi, xxxvii). The classes he chose to take were writing, literature, history, classics, and biological sciences (Great 55). John Steinbeck had an “overpowering desire to write” (Great 55). While in college, he also contributed poems and other writings to the university publication (The New 446). After 6 years of college, he left with no degree (Great 55). After John Steinbeck left college, he had many jobs. He also became a foreign correspondent during WWII (Major 2671). John Steinbeck was first married in 1930. John Steinbeck’s wife’s name was Carol Henning (U*X*L 2). John and Carol were the perfect match. She was a very devo... ... middle of paper ... ...tered his ashes in the wind at a cliff over the Pacific Ocean in his hometown of Salinas, California (Great 59). In the end John was back where he belonged and where he loved to be. John Steinbeck wrote because he wanted to have an impact on people’s life. John Steinbeck hated being in the limelight he made a terrible celebrity. Steinbeck tried to do the best he could do in his life. John Steinbeck showed real people and emotions in his characters when he wrote his books. John Steinbeck was not afraid to write about real problems in the world today. In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck takes on the depression. He shows Americans and others the ugly truth about what was happening. John Steinbeck never stopped doing what he loved even when tempted. John Steinbeck was and is an influential author. John Steinbeck is an writer that should always be remembered.
Written in 1937, Of Mice and Men, by John Adolf Steinbeck Jr., American author and Pulitzer Prize winner, follows the lives of downtrodden farmhands, George and Lennie. As with many of Steinbeck's books, the themes in Of Mice and Men include his favored themes of class warfare and oppression of the working class. Steinbeck also focuses his literature on the power of friendship and the corrupt nature of mankind. In 1993, Professor Thomas Scarseth wrote a critical analysis of the novella analyzing many aspects of Steinbeck’s work including the presentation, themes, and writing style. In his essay, Scarseth explains the key themes of the Novella. He noted that the corrupted nature of man, the injustice of life, and the power of friendship were three important themes of the book. Much of Scarseth’s analysis contained numerous thoughtful insights. Were his insights and opinions valid, or were his, and Steinbeck’s, perspectives on these issues flawed?
John Steinbeck was born on February 27, 1902 in Salinas, California. He had a pretty average childhood with a supportive family and a decent education. While growing up his mother, Olive Hamilton, was a major factor in his education, since she was a schoolteacher and made it her duty to educate him. His mother most likely was the reason he developed a love of reading and literature and ended up going to Stanford. In his child there were only two major events that affected his writing. These were when he worked on a ranch with migrant workers, and when his father’s business failed and the family was temporarily thrust into poverty. These two events most likely sparked his interest in the poor lives of the migrant workers. His experiences on the ranch taught him about the harsh and impoverished lives of the migrant workers and his experience of being in poverty enabled him to understand what life is like when one is poor, as the migrant workers were. This understanding inspired some of his most famous writings such as: Of Mice and Men, In Dubious Battle and The Grapes of Wrath. These experiences also allowed him to add a sense of realism to the stories. After graduating from his public high school in 1919 Steinbeck went to Stanford. He went there for 5 years before dropping out without a degree and moving to New York. The following years were highly tumultuous for Steinbeck and he held many odd jobs while trying to get his writing published. In 1935 he finally got his first big break when his critically acclaimed novel, Tortilla Flats, was published. After this he became quite successful and well known although the skill in his writing seems to fall after WWII. After researching his life I decided to focus on using his most famous n...
Hence, I feel as if John Steinbeck wrote a piece of art when he created this novel. It possessed many great characteristics that gave a good idea of how they were then. I felt as though the novel told a wonderful of two men trying to chase their dreams although temptations, heart ache, and pain may get in your way you just keep striving. When I read the book and the articles on the novel, I felt that George was somehow the epic hero in the novel. He used his own selfishness to his friend out of the misery that was sure to keep coming to him. All in all I think the novel told an excellent story.
9. John Steinbeck was a wither since he was in high school, he wrote stories for magazines using a false name. At school he wrote for the newspaper. John Steinbeck, as a child, was hired to work at ranches in the Salinas Valley. He writes about his home in the Valley and about the migrant workers which was in his
John Steinbeck’s use of figurative language and local color in Cannery Row, Sweet Thursday and Of Mice and Men show his growth as a writer and highlight the reoccurring theme of loneliness and ostracism. The time gap in between these books show that Steinbeck grows as he experiences more throughout his life. Steinbeck’s novels are always set in California due to his extensive knowledge of the area since he has lived in the area his entire life. In all of his works the characters use parts of speech and actions that are customary to that area.
I. John Steinbeck used his personal experiences as a laborer to write many of his novels like Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath.
In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck brings out the themes of Lonliness and companionship, and strengths and weaknesses through the actions, and quotations of the characters. Irony and foreshadowing play a large roll on how the story ends. Lennie and his habit of killing things not on purpose, but he is a victim of his own strength. George trying to pretend that his feelings for Lennie mean nothing. The entire novel is repetitive in themes and expressed views.
...erstanding of Steinbeck as a man and as one of the most insightful authors of American Literature.
Gray, James. John Steinbeck American Writers: A collection of Literary biographies. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. 1961. 49-72. 4-11-2014
The daily struggle of the working class, fear of loneliness and the reality of putting all your energy into plans that fail are the different themes relating to John Steinbeck's novel, "Of Mice and Men". The characters depicted by the author are individuals who are constantly facing one obstacle after another. The book illustrates different conflicts such as man versus society, man versus man, man versus himself and idealism versus reality. The book's backdrop is set in the Salinas, California during the depression. The two main characters include two men, George and Lennie. Supportive characters include a few ranch hands, Candy, Crooks, Curly, Slim and Carlson.
I have been analysing the novella ‘Of Mice and men’ by John Steinbeck, which was published in 1937. Steinbeck wrote the novel based on his own experiences as a bindle stiff in the 1920’s, around the same time when the great Wall Street crash happened, causing an immense depression in America. Throughout the novel he uses a recurring theme of loneliness in his writing, which may have reflected his own experiences at this time. This is evident in his writing by the way he describes the characters, setting and language in the novel.
John Steinbeck was a major literary figure in the 20th century and continues to be widely read in the twenty-first century. Steinbeck was born on February 27,1902 (About John Steinbeck) in the Salinas Valley of California. (Laskov) "His father, John Steinbeck, Sr. was the County Treasurer and his mother, Olive Hamilton Steinbeck, was a former school teacher. As a youth, he worked as a ranch hand and fruit picker. (John Steinbeck [2])". "He attended the local high school and studied marine biology at Stanford University between 1920 and 1926, but did not take a degree" (John Steinbeck [1]). Steinbeck's fascination with science and biology is evident in most of his works such as in this quote from the Grapes of Wrath: "Man, unlike any other thing organic or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond his work, walks up in the stairs of his concepts, emerges ahead of his accomplishments." (Steinbeck 165) As Steinbeck began his writing career, he took many other jobs to support himself. For a short time, he worked at the American in New York City, and then returned to California where he worked various jobs such as a painter and fruit-picker before taking a job as a caretaker for a Lake Tahoe Estate. (John Steinbeck [1]) His job as a caretaker allowed him time to write and by the time he left the job in 1930 he had already published his first book, Cup of Gold (1929) and married his first wife Carol Henning (John Steinbeck [2]). After his marriage he moved to Pacific Grove, California where, in the early 1930s, Steinbeck met Edward Ricketts, a marine biologist, whose views on the interdependence of all life deeply influenced Steinbeck's novel To a God Unknown (1933). (John Steinbeck [2])
...elist John Steinbeck Has Sometimes Been Criticised as a Sentimentalist. Duncan Reith Uncovers the Bleak Political Pessimism Behind His Novel of Ranch Life During the Great Depression, Of Mice and Men." The English Review Nov. 2004: 6+. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 11 Jan. 2012.
Steinbeck uses biblical allusions and references throughout his novel, from the very beginning to the climax and the end. The novel becomes a more meaningful and complex book with the use of these allusions and causes it to relate more and more with the Great Depression where many problems with authorities and social problems arose.
Steinbeck has become one of my favorite writers -- for the love he has for his characters, the loveliness of his language, and the clear-eyed conviction with which he writes. Originally, I failed to see the beauty in Steinbeck's people, though it is plainly there. Perhaps I hadn't seen enough of the world myself, yet. There was a lot I didn't understand about people.