John Steinbeck(1902-1968)

Champion of the working class

… the migrant worker … the underprivileged … the blue collar worker … the misfit … the poor … the exploited

California is Steinbeck country.

… born in Salinas, California … middle-class family … father was county treasurer … mother was a schoolteacher … wrote about his native land

Why are his stories about the poor so realistic?

because he worked several labor jobs ranch hand freight worker fruit picker common laborer

Attended Stanford University

… studied marine biology …went on expedition with Dr. (Doc) Ed.

Ricketts to Gulf of California …Cannery Row (1945) and Sea of

Cortez (1951) are results of this experience

Steinbeck known for writings about Great Depression (1930s)

…Tortilla Flat (1935) was first acclaimed novel

…Of Mice and Men (1937- novel / 1940 -play) continues themes of plight of workingclass

… Grapes of Wrath (1939) won Pulitzer Prize; also shows problems of Great Depression

More Steinbeck Novels

… The Moon is Down (1942) makes critical observations about Nazism, also a dramatic version

… The Pearl (1947) probably a result of his experiences at Gulf of California in Mexico, theme of evils of love of money

… East of Eden (1952) highly acclaimed and made into motion picture twice, the first starring James Dean

Steinbeck, a prolific writer who published in five decades

… Cup of Gold (1929) first publication by Steinbeck

… The Winter of Our Discontent (1962) also made into a motion picture

… Travels with Charley (1962) last publication of Steinbeck, a nonfiction journal of his travels across America with his dog Charley

Steinbeck’s Politics

… moved from left to right as he grew older

… early novels showed his disdain for a capitalistic society which exploited the poor, almost socialistic (communistic)

… later years showed Steinbeck as hawkish in Vietnam War, adamantly against Soviet and Red China’s communism

Literary devices, techniques and strategies used in Of Mice and Men

foreshadowingsymbolismbiblical allusion

Themes in Of Mice and Men

man’s responsibility to manAmerican Dreamlonelinessexploitation of the poorRacismSexism

Contemporaries of Steinbeck

HemingwayFitzgeraldFaulkner