'How does the novel Of Mice And Men reflect life in the 1930s Essay\r'

'Question-‘How does the novel Of Mice And Men g perceive breeding in the 1930s’\r\n prank Steinbeck was innate(p) in 1902 in Salinas, atomic number 20. His mformer(a) was a instructor and the cause why he learned to drive in halts and his aim was a county treasurer. He at fly the cooped his topical anaesthetic school and in the holidays playacted on farms and regorgetle spread heades, this is the reason he is competent to give such an insight to how animateness was on that point. After school he went to Stanford university studying mari quantify biology except did non assume a degree. He so went to New York for a short magazine were he workplaceed as a news soul for the Ameri ignore Newspaper, before sledding back to California to concentrate on is paper. He wrote universey discs including ocean of Cortez, Of Mice An Men and A Russian Journal forrader winning a noble Prize for belles-lettres in 1962.\r\nThe novel I am doing this raise on I ‘Of Mice And Men’ by John Steinbeck, set in California. The book was written In 1936 and in addition based in this period. This is in the examinet of the great natural depression, which started in 1930 when firms and 2298 banks went bust and losing e actu exclusivelyybodies savings and finished at the beginning of the second world war. During the depression millions of large number were left wandering most face for mull overs and surviving any port they could. All this came undecomposed after the boom of the 1920s where it was easy to honour work and e actu ein truthybody was paid unfeigned well. In the 30s Steinbeck was withal i of the 13million people with tabu a proper job, this is because his writing al iodine would non be able to deem him.\r\nThis is similar to page 11 in the book where Lennie and George be look for jobs, they too didn’t shed much property so they ar ineffective so buy the simplest social functions such as tomato ketchup for their baked beans. Steinbeck constitute a job and put to placeher away how hard the work is on a bedcover, he uses is experiences on Lennie and George as they also found a job a ranch in California and had to work actu in ally hard, besides to foil there $50’s a month.\r\nThe reason why Lennie and George kept working is because of their imagine. The Dream was to avouch a itsy-bitsy farm in the kingdom side with animals and crops, they m separate this woolgatheringing because it is the scarce thing they obligate to look forward to in life bilgewater, and as they as they m iodiney to achieve the dream it gives them a reason to work. Because of the depression all the otherwise plans deem been ruined as there is non sluice enough money to buy food, they need a dream to remark them going.\r\nGeorge and Lennie atomic number 18 the main characters in the base, Lennie is a rattling big strong man alone when he was young he kicked in the head by a horse. This caused him brain cost and he now is unable to make his proclaim decisions and generally acts alike a small child, this fable was one told by George so people didn’t depend Lennie was born this way. He is described by George as a ‘big dumb diddlysquat who is no good for himself’. Even though George says this sometimes he is still of all time there for him. He had been looking after Lennie nearly all his life and always tries to help him. George is the person who happens control of what they do. He takes control of e authenticallything from getting them both jobs to what they eat. He thus far speaks for Lennie, like when they arrive at the ranch they have to go and speak to the owner, before they go in George even breaks Lennie not to speak, and any questions that Lennie does get asked George answers for him.\r\nCrooks is the unaccompanied black man working on the ranch. He is tempered with the least heed and is tendere to sopor on his own in a diminutive shed next to a dung pile. He knows where he stands, which is at the bottom. He is luffn no follow except for his job as he is very good at it and when he is playing horse shoe as he is also very good at that. At the time the book was written in the 1930s in the\r\n lift of the Klu Klux Klan (kkk) who wanted total segregation and destruction of other races. They referred to blacks as niggers and would hang them for anything and sometimes nothing. Crooks knew to stay out of the way and to be particular(prenominal). He is called crooks because of his crooked back, he has this disability because he was kicked in the back by a horse.\r\nWhen Lennie walks into Crooks’ bunkhouse, he tries to get rid arrive at him entirely when he can’t he takes advantage of his slowness. He tries to speak to Lennie and treat him like the other uninfected custody treat Crooks. He to get Lennie to understand what life is like for him by saying recall George didnâ €™t ever have intercourse back from town, because then he would be on his own like Crooks. further Lennie didn’t her the suppose at the beginning of the sentence and got very black towards Crooks and got very worried.\r\nOut of life Crooks wanted to be treated equally and be given the selfsame(prenominal) rights, like when he used to play with the white children when he was a child before he knew it was wrong. He wanted to be a lawyer, it was his dream further he couldn’t because he was black. He wanted to be able to live in normal accommodation like the other workers sooner he lived in a small direction the connected to the harness board next to a dung pile. In his room he had numerous possessions, he more than he would be able to carry, this shows he had good job security. Many of his possessions were books, he had stacks because he had collected them but primarily because he is extremely clever and wish to read.\r\nCrooks is very alone(p) in the boo k, and it probably related to real life as well. He was very lonely because he had no friends because the whites weren’t allowed to speak to him a most of the blacks had move forward from the southern states, and he also did not have any family in California.\r\nOverall I sound off Crooks’ character reflects life in 30’s very well. manage in life he is separated from the whites and is given no compliments and looked down upon.\r\nCurley’s wife is also an icon for life in the 30’s. She does not have a name and does not work. In the book she is put across as less outstanding than the manpower, and a lot of time she is told what to do by the manpower. Her character is vain and also gets angry and defensive very busyly. She also is very sarcastic and doesn’t calculate to be very bright. She like crooks is separated, she is separated from other women and doesn’t seem to be very bright. She like Crooks is separated, she is separat ed from other women. Not once in the book does she add to see any friends or leave the ranch at all. withal like Crooks she can’t fulfil her wishes or dreams. Crooks wants to be lawyer but can’t, because he’s black and Curley’s wife wants to be able to go to Hollywood\r\nand be an actress. She has been denied the opportunity by beingness obligate to stay on the ranch. There be so important because it gives them something to look forward to in life, it keeps them going. In the novel Curleys wife toys how women were not as important as men. She comes across as very silly, not very bright and the other men think that she could get someone in serious trouble.\r\nShe has also not been given a name in the book, she is always referred to as Curleys wife, this is to show that she is in large and not as important as the men. She is the sole(prenominal) women on the ranch and has no job, her notwithstanding role is being a house wife. On the ranch all the m en want to stay away from her because they think she bequeath get them into trouble. Therefore She has nobody to babble out to or tell most her dream to be a big time movie star. But when Lennie turns up she realises that he is to slow and nice not to listen or to walk away if she talked to him. So when she realises this she confides in him and tells all(prenominal)thing she hasn’t told any one else.\r\nAlthough she is very unhappy with Curley and says that he is bad man, she stays with him. This could because she knows one day he leave behind get the ranch and have quite a lot of money compared to everyone else. She knows that if she sticks with him she will have a limit future. even one of the reasons why the men stay away from her is because she is a flirt and could get them into trouble. For example when Lennie and George initiatory started working she came over to George and flirted with him. She would have to be careful because if she did get caught with another man she could be kicked out, and then would not have such a secure future.\r\nThe men mainly see women as people they tell what to do and repose with. They acquire’t treat any women with respect except for Susi who runs the sporting house in town, they tend to teat her with some respect as she shows them a good time, is nice and is honest. The men go town to go to the brothel to sleep with women at the end of distributively month when they get their pay. On page 55 they talk about Susi’s place saying things like’ Susi’s a laugh’, ‘Theres no water in her whisky’ implying that she is honest. They generally talk about what a nice place it is and how nice Susi is. From this you can tell that she is the only women they give any respect.\r\nAlthough Curley never unfeignedly showed his wife any respect or showed he loved her. When Lennie killed her he goes cold and gets very mad and upset. He immediately gets his gun and organises two t eams to witness Lennie and shoot him. This shows that he did love her even though he didn’t treat her very well.\r\n some other character is Slim, he tends to keep to himself and is very calmness and quiet. Although he is quiet he has natural place on the ranch, all the other men listen to him and take his advice. Even Curley listens and is scared of him, for example when Curley came into the bunkhouse looking for a fight Slim just stood up and Curley backed down. Also when Lennie Crushed Curley’s commit Slim tells him to say that he hurt his slip away in a machine.\r\nCurley is the chieftain’ son, he has a big ego and is very aggressive and quick tempered. He tries to pick fights with every one maybe because he wants control. The reason why he has a big ego and is quick to start a fight is because he is a good boxer, he even got a golden glove prize for winning a tournament. Because his father had quite a lot of money compared to other people in the 193 0’s and the occurrence that he is white makes him tactile property superior and more important than any one else.\r\nThe last character is glaze over, the swamper. His job on the ranch is to go around and sweep up. The reason he does this job is because he is very old and has only got one hand, after losing his other in an solidus with a machine. His best friend is his detent, which he has had all his life. However the other workers don’t dog like the dog and say ‘it’s no good for it’s self and smells. It would be better(p) to put it down. Candy is also very keep to get in with George and Lennie’s dream as he is getting old and afraid the chieftain will just get rid of him when he is no good.\r\nLennie and George among the other millions of people move around from job to job because when the job is done there is nothing else to do in this place. However Lennie and George tend to travel round more than others do because Lennie is always getting them in trouble. For example when they were in crazy weed digging the cesspit they had to leave in a hurry because Lennie had been accused of rape. Although what really happened was (from the book) ‘Lennie saw a girl wearing away fair red habilitate which he liked the look of. And because he liked the look of it he grabbed it.’ †‘the girl started to panic and ran out to a field where lots of men were walk screaming rape.’ George talking in the bunk house. ‘ concisely the men were chasing Lennie and George across fields and they ended up hiding in an irrigation ditch.\r\nNone of the characters in the figment talk much of their families except Lennie and George who briefly honor Lennie’s aunt Clara. I think this is significant because many of the mean had to leave their families to find work and if they do think of them they will begin to ignore them which could effect their work, which could cause them to lose their job.\r\ nThe workers accommodation is very poor. All they have is a very small bed and a shelf. When George first went to his bed he found a bar of lice killer. All the workers get $50’s a month, most of the men spend the majority of their money a the cat house in town where they pay for charge and alcohol.\r\nThe boss looks down to the men as just workers, he doesn’t interact with the men. The workers see the boss as very quick tempered but generally okay. On page 21 George asks Candy about the boss, he says ‘what kind of a jest at is the boss.’ Candy replies ‘well, he’s a pretty nice fellow. Gets pretty mad sometimes but nice.’\r\nAll the men dress in dungaree jeans and jacket. They wear these because they are very hard wearing and lasts along time. The way they dress reflects on how they are living. They are wearing tough clothes which relates to the fact they are sleeping rough and in they jobs they are having to do a lot of hard labour. Also they last for a long time because they don’t have the money to buy more. Curley and his father have more than one set of clothes, and even suit but compared to every one else including Lennie and George this is a lot as they only have one set of clothes, all denim so they will last a long time.\r\nNone of the men have many possessions, they only have what they can carry as they have no job security so if they get to much\r\n engorge and get fired they would have to leave it behind. The only person who has a lot of possessions is Crooks, he has lots of books magazines and even a shotgun, this is because he is likely to keep his job because he is the best. None of the men have luxury items as none of them can support any, this is because of the depression as there is no duplication money.\r\nLennie and George among all the men have a dream for better things. The dream is for them to own their own composing of land with their own animals to look after. To Lennie tryout the dream is like a small child hearing it’s favourite story. He knows how it goes but wants to hear it. He’s always asking George (like on page 16) to tell him the dream and how he is going to tend the rabbits.\r\nIt seems that George doesn’t really think the dream will happen, that its just something to keep them going but when Candy offers to put all his money into it he really begins to believe it can happen. But when Lennie goes into Crooks’ room and tells him the dream Crooks’ reaction is ‘you nuts’ as he knows there is a very small kick downstairs of it happening. When Curleys wife enters she says ‘ I seen too many guys sayin they are gonna get their own piece of land and not one of em has’.\r\nI think the story reflects life in the 30’s brilliantly, all the characters show how life is, from Crooks showing how life was for blacks to Curley’s wife showing how it was for women. In a way women are impor tant in the story because they make for how they were treated as less important than men and there role in the 1930’s. But in another way not thought as important characters in the novel because they are women and in this time the men didn’t think they were as important as them. I think the story represents what life was really like for women in the 1930’s correctly.\r\nIn the story Crooks, Candy and his dog represent a world of intolerance quite well. In the book Crooks is a very useful person as he is very good at his job but is not tolerated by the other workers because he is black, compared to Candy who is old and not really any use to any one as all he can to is sweep the floor, but he is tolerated. This maybe because he is white, also because he is a human. When the other workers decide that Candy’s old dog is no good for it’s self, they take it out side and shoot it because it is only a dog. Candy says’ They wouldn’t shoot me when I’m no good’, suggesting that white valet are tolerated more than dogs or black people.\r\nThe workers respect each other and are polite to each other but at the same time it’s every man for him self as they cannot rely on anyone else to help them to much. The workers know its every man for himself as they no if they want anything such as to follow their dream they have to work for it themselves and not hope that other people will help them. Even though they know they are on their own all the workers are friends and adopt out for each other on the ranch.\r\n or so of the men don’t mind Lennie as they no he means well and is no trouble but Curley shows a more pragmatic view of him, which would better represent the 1930’s better. Curley shows a lot of intolerance towards Lennie as he is seen as not normal, he shows this intolerance by forever threatening him and in the end starting a fight with him.\r\nFrom looking over my work I believe the characters in the novel ‘Of Mice And Men’ show that they were living in the 1930’s very well. Their belongings jobs and actions all show that they were living in this period. I also believe the character of Crooks, Curleys wife and the boss all show how different people were treated at this time.\r\n'