1920s America

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1920s America
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Of Mice and Menwritten by John Steinbeck in
1937

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• Clinging to each other in their loneliness and
  alienation, George and his simple-minded friend
  Lennie dream, as drifters will, of a place to
  call their own. But after they come to work on a
  ranch in the Salinas Valley their hopes, like
  "the best laid schemes o' mice an' men," begin to
  go awry.

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About The Author

• Born in 1902 in Salinas, California.
• As a teenager, he spent his summers working as a
  hired hand on neighbouring ranches.

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Historical Timeline
The New Deal - support for unemployment.
Banks, Factories close, farming collapses
1931
1936
1933
1929
1937

Financial Crash
Of Mice and Men is published.
Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes president.
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THE GREAT DEPRESSION!

• On Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929, the stock
  market crashed, triggering the Great Depression,
• It spread from the United States to the rest of
  the world, lasting from the end of 1929 until the
  early 1940s.
• With banks failing and businesses closing, more
  than 15 million Americans (one-quarter of the
  workforce) became unemployed.

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Historical Context

• The depression also led to a drop in the market
  price of farm crops, which meant that farmers
  were forced to produce more goods in order to
  earn the same amount of money

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The Dust Bowl

• The increase in farming activity across the Great
  Plains states caused the soil to erode.
• This erosion, coupled with a seven-year drought
  that began in 1931, turned once fertile
  grasslands into a desert like region known as
  the Dust Bowl.

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Dust Bowl Plains
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The American Dream

• Hundreds of thousands of farmers packed up their
  families and few belongings, and headed for
  California, which, for numerous reasons, seemed
  like a promised land.

• The states mild climate promised a longer
  growing season and, with soil favourable to a
  wider range of crops, it offered more
  opportunities to harvest.

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is shattered!!

• Despite these promises, though, very few found it
  to be the land of opportunity and plenty of which
  they dreamed.

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So Why The Title Of Mice and Men?

• Inspired by a poem written by Robert Burns
• From the poem
• The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men / Gang aft
  agley
• Meaning No matter how hard or well we plan for
  something, our plans can often fail to become
  reality...or worse, they can end up going
  terribly wrong.

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Fact or Fiction?

• Although Of Mice and Men is a fictional story it
  is deeply rooted in historical fact.
• The high unemployment resulted in many people
  travelling to find work.
• They could be hired and fired at the boss will
  (farm owners were very powerful)