OF MICE AND MEN

Poverty Homelessness, The exploitation of itinerant workers, The failure of the Dream, Americas general moral decline.

John Steinbeck
(1902-1968), born in Salinas, California, came from a family of moderate means. Steinbeck worked during his summers as a hired hand in nearby ranches.

 During the late 1920s and 1930s, he concentrated on writing and wrote several novels set in California.

Steinbeck gained great success by readers and critics.

The ranch in the novel is near Soledad, which is south-east of Salinas on the Salinas river. The countryside described at the beginning of the novel, and the ranch itself is based on Steinbecks own experiences.

Why Migrant Workers?

Before technology created farm machinery, humans had to do a lot of the farm work by hand. Between the 1880s and the 1930s, thousands of men would travel the countryside in search of work. Such work included the harvesting of wheat and barley.

Migrant Workers
These workers would earn $2.50 or $3.00 a day, plus food and shelter. During the 1930s, the unemployment rate was high in the U.S., and with so many men searching for work, agencies were set up to send farm workers to where they were needed. In the novel, George and Lennie (the two main characters) were given work cards from Murray and Readys, which was one of the farm work agencies.

THE DEPRESSION
On October 29,1929. Migrant workers and Agriculture. In 1938, about half the nation's grain was harvested by mechanical combines that enabled five men to do the work that had previously required 350.

Segregation and black torture

Segregation and black torture was also a main social historical culture point in the 1930's (When 'Of Mice and Men' was written)

The American Dream.

Every migrant worker had the dream to live big and succeed in life, but as we find out by Crooks and the end of the novella, the dream isn't reachable to the migrant workers

The role of women .

They were almost seen as sexual objects/slaves.

The title of the book

Of mice and mencomes from a poem by the 18th century Scottish poet Robbie burns.

 The poem is about a mouse who builds a nest in a wheat field only to have it demolished by ploughers. Written in Scot dialect,but traduced in English: The best laid schemes of mice and men often go wrong and leave us nothing but grief and pain,instead of promised joy

Time

Setting

Characteres

symbols

Motives
Tell you what? About the rabbits. George snapped, You aint gonna put nothing over on me. Lennie pleaded, Come on, George. Tell me. Please, George. Like you done before. You get a kick outa that, dont you? Awright, Ill tell you, and then well eat our supper . . . . PAG 7 Course you did. Well, look. Lennieif you jus happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right here an hide in the brush. PAG 8

Tone

"snorting water like a horse pg.2

Lennie broke in. But not us! An why? Because . . . . because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and thats why. pg. 8

George: I tol you you couldnt bring that pup in here. Lennie: What pup, George? I aint got no pup. pg. 22

He rippled the edge of the deck nervously, and the little snapping noise drew the eyes of all the men in the room, so that he stopped doing it. The silence fell on the room again. A minute passed, and another minute. Pg. 25

I dont want to hurt you, he said, but Georgell be mad if you yell. When she didnt answer nor move he bent closely over her. He lifted her arm and let it drop. Pg. 45

No, Lennie. Look down there acrost the river, like you can almost see the place. Lennie obeyed him. George looked down at the gun. Pg. 52

And George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle of it close to the back of Lennies head. The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger. Pg. 52

 Melancholic
Realistic Sentimental Comic Tragic

Tone

Fatalistic
Moralistic

Narrator

Narrator
The story is told from the point of view of a third-person omniscient

narrator, who can access the point

of view of any character as required

by the narrative.

Writing style

Writing style
Descriptive

Colloquial
Simple Straightforward

Uncomplicated

Contractions.

Two types of contractions.

A contraction is the process of becoming smaller, in terms of language, is the process of shortening a word by combination or elision.

Elision is the omission of one or more sounds (such as a vowel, a consonant or a whole syllable)

goodbye is a contraction of god be with you

there are some contraction that are very common and socially accepted just like:

Im

I am

Ill

I will

Shes

she is

Dont

do not

And there are some contractions that are seen as very informal type of English just like the next sequence. Do you want a beer?

Do you wanna beer?

D'you wanna beer?

D'ya wanna beer?

Ya wanna beer?

Wanna beer?

Contractions used in
Of Mice and Men

Warning!

Please remember that these are informal contractions. That means that we do not use them in "correct" speech, and we almost never use them in writing.

We normally use them only when speaking fast and casually, for example with friends. Some people never use them, even in informal speech.

Aint:
(informal, non-standard)

Contraction of : Am not; are not; is not

The use of aint was widespread in the 18th century, typically as a contraction for am not. It is still perfectly normal in many dialects and informal speech in both Britain and North America

if it aint broke, dont fix it

Kinda (informal, non-standard)

Contraction of: kind of

Early 20th century and is originally an US alteration

I think its kinda funny

Gonna (informal, non-standard)

Contraction of : going to

Early 20th century and is a way of saying or writing `going to in informal speech, when it refers to the future

so what you gonna do now?

Oughta (very informal, non-standard)

Contraction of: ought to

Early 20th century and is an slang word, commonly used in US

There oughta be a law against that.

Wanna - Wanta: (informal, non-standard)

Contraction of: want to; want a

Early 20th century and is an slang word, commonly used in US and Britain.

I wanna go with you

Musta (very informal, non-standard)

Contraction of: must have

Early 20th century and is a very strange slang word. Commonly used in Bronx

He musta guessed. There's no other explanation.

Gotta (informal, non-standard)

Contraction of: have got a; have got to

Early 20th century and is a common word. Commonly used in Bronx

You gotta be careful

Contractions by elision.

Talkin
Goin Tellin Jus Spen An Watchin

talking
going telling just spent and watching

Settin
Foolin cause

setting
fooling because

Do Americans use contractions more liberally now than in the 19th century?