7/28/2019 A Comparison Between the Great Depression and of Mice
and Men
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The Great Depression is comparable to Lennie and George's life.
I would liketo give a comparison of George Milton and Lennie Small
to the GreatDepression. The time that this story took place was
during the GreatDepression. John Steinbeck captured the reality of
this most difficult time.
During the Great Depression people needed to travel together to
sharechores and duties to make a living until something better came
along. That isthe way George and Lennie traveled. They traveled
together to take care ofeach other but George took care of Lennie
the most, because he was alwaysgetting in trouble. "You do bad
things and I got to get you out." (Of Miceand Men p.11). During the
Great Depression money was very scarce. Youhad to travel around to
find a job in order to make money to survive. Lennieand George were
in that type of predicament. Keeping enough money untilthe next job
was difficult because prices were rising during the GreatDepression
and you had to budget your money. During this depression mostpeople
worked on farms because after the stock market crashed
peoplerealized that the reason the stock market crashed was because
farms were notproducing enough goods. People started to work on
farms more to helpeveryone. Lennie and George worked for ranches
and also in the fields."He's a good skinner. He can rassel grain
bags, drive a cultivator. He can doanything." (Of Mice and Men
p.22).
If you really look closely, George and Lennie's way of life and
theGreat Depression have a good deal in common. George and Lennie
were
outcasts in life. George Milton was small in size and a very
smart mancompared to Lennie. He was actually only of average
intelligence. LennieSmall was a large person and very retarded.
Since Lennie was so retarded hedid not grasp the things that were
happening around him. For example, ifsomeone became upset about
anything he would grab them and hold andsqueeze until they stopped
moving. Lennie would accidentally harm them andthat is how he got
into trouble. George would then have to try to get Lennieout of the
current predicament. This sort of ties in with the attitude of
thepeople during the Great Depression because people were
constantly unsettled.The people in the Great Depression were losing
all of the money that they hadworked so hard to earn and save. When
the banks closed, they losteverything. When someone found
themselves in great difficulty on a farm orranch they had to seek
some other opportunity. It was very important to not
let anyone know what had happened where you were previously
employed.In 1929, Herbert Hoover was elected president. Wall Street
was
greatly affected by the greatest stock market crash in the
history of the UnitedStates of America. This caused everyone and
especially the banks to panic.Everyone was naturally concerned
about the safety of their money. Theywent to the banks to get what
money they could. There was not enoughmoney for everyone to
withdrawal. This was the beginning of the GreatDepression. During
this period president Franklin D. Roosevelt wasinaugurated.
President Roosevelt said, "So, first of all, let me assert my
firmbelief that the only thing we have to fear is fear
itself--nameless, unreasoning,unjustified terror which paralyzes
needed efforts to convert retreat intoadvance." (The Great
Depression An Eyewitness History p.105). His first
action of presidency was to implement what is known as the New
Deal tohelp the country to emerge from the Great Depression.
In conclusion there are many things that can be compared between
thetwo subjects. First, the settings between the two stories were
similar and theyboth took place during the same time frame. Second,
they told of thehardships that everyone faced during the 1930's.
Hardships and relationshipsnever last but memories help us to make
better decisions in the future.
