Of Mice And Men Context
Liz Keddie
The Great Depression
1933 is when the Great Depression was at it's worst. At that time 13-15 million Americans were unemployed. Along with the unemployment, half of the United States Bank was failing. Here is a video about Americas Bank during the Great Depression http://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/videos/1929-stock-market-crash. Farmers were impacted a lot due to the depression because crop prices fell 60%. Those impacted the most were cities and countries relying on heavy duty industry. Prsident Franklin Roosevelt was the hero who helped America get out of the Great Depression. The United States economy was not fully recovered until 1939.
The American Dream
The meaning of the American Dream has changed over the years. Depending on the person and what they do for a living, the dream could mean a different thing to them or have a greater importance. To some, the Dream is connected to the success in sports and how working immigrants seek to live the American way. The idea of working hard, save some money, send the kids off to college so they can achieve more than you, and retire in warmer climate is another view on the American Dream. This point is viewed by the hard working middle class.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Dream
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/lessons/american-dream/students/thedream.html
John Steinbeck
Steinbeck wrote 27 books. He published 16 novels, 6 non-fiction, and 5 collections of short stories. His book The Grapes of Wrath won the Pulitzer Prize. This book sold over 14 million copies making it his most famous book. He is also known for East of Eden, The Red Pony, Of Mice and Men, Tortilla Flat, and Cannery Row. The setting of his books are mostly central and southern California and are about fate and justice. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962.
http://www.biography.com/people/john-steinbeck-9493358#later-life