The setting is the time, place and circumstance in which an event occurs. The setting of "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck takes place in the 1930's during the Great Depression on a ranch in the Salinas Valley in California.
There are three specific places in which this story takes place. It takes place along the banks of the Salinas River near the ranch, in the ranch bunk house, and in the barn.
The banks of the Salinas River was usually the setting of George and Lennie's peaceful relationship. They were always calm and relaxed when walking along the banks of the Salinas River. Not only did the banks of the Salinas River set them in a soothing state, but it was also their hide out place if anything unexpected were to happen.
The ranch bunk house was always filled with arguments and disputes. Many men had to sleep in those bunk houses; therefore many problems arose. Major scenes took place in the bunk house.
The barn was the place of chaos. The barn is where Lennie accidentally smothered and killed Curley's wife. Curley's wife is very whore-like. She allowed him to run his fingers through her hair. He enjoyed the way her hair felt; therefore clawing his large fingers through her head. She screamed for help but all that did was cause Lennie to tighten his grip around her hair and mouth so she could not scream. He pulled her head back so far that he snapped her neck, killing her.
Lennie tried to dispose of her body by hiding her under the hay, but it was obvious that a dead body was laying there. Lennie ran into the bushes on the banks of the Salinas River and waited for George.
. map showing California south of San Francisco
Salinas Valley
Historical Context
The Historical context in the story "Of Mice and Men" consists of the Great Depression and the Great Dust Bowl. The Great Depression was an ecenomic downfall that began in some countries in 1928. The Great Dust Bowl was a series of dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American and Canadian prairie lands from 1930 to 1936, caused by severe drought coupled with decades of extensive farming without crop rotation or other techniques that prevented erosion.
During the late 1930s, California was struggling not only with the economic problems of the Great Depression, but also with severe conflict between laborers. Labor conflicts occurred on the docks and packing sheds and fields Steinbeck wrote about the struggles of migrant farm workers. Agriculture as a working-culture was undergoing a historic change. 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. Only a short time before, thousands of travelling single men had roamed the western states following the harvests.
Because of the addition of combines to the fields, the owners of the land had to hire smaller amounts of farmhands. Getting a job was much harder. The use of hundreds of men as laborers was no longer necessary, and only 5 men were needed to work the combine. The job had little pay and long hours.
The Great Depression
The Ranch The Great Dust Storm
Author Biography
John Ernst Steinbeck was born on February 27, 1902 in Salinas, California. His parents, John Ernst Sr. and Olive Steinbeck had four children, all girls except for John who was the third child. Steinbeck’s father managed a flour mill at first, and then went on to become treasurer of Monterey County. Olive Steinbeck taught in a single room school in the rural area.
During the early 1900s, Salinas was a small town of about three thousand people. It is located near Monterey Bay, one hundred miles south of San Francisco. Steinbeck’s father worked hard to help his family but young John had to work to earn money of his own. He worked at nearby ranches during the summer.
In high school, John earned B’s and B-pluses and also was associate editor of the school newspaper. Then in 1919, Steinbeck started college eighty miles north of Salinas at Stanford University in Palo Alto. He earned average grades and dropped out after two years. During the next two years, he worked on a ranch south of Salinas and then went back to Stanford. Sometimes he attended classes and sometimes he didn’t since he was occasionally ill or didn’t know what career he wanted to pursue. When he wasn’t in class, he worked many different jobs. He was a clerk in Oakland for a time and he also worked in the beet and barley fields of Salinas. He wrote about this experience in the fields in Of Mice and Men.
Steinbeck went back to Salinas and worked as a bench chemist for Spreckel’s Sugar Company. He wrote during his free time. In January 1923, he went back to Stanford and got A’s and B’s in the next three years. The Stanford Spectator received two of his stories. When he was twenty-three, he left Stanford after five years in 1925 without a degree or ideas for a job. He went to New York City on a freighter and there he worked as a reporter for the New York American. He was fired since his writing was “too subjective for newspaper reporting” (Telgen 241). Steinbeck’s book manuscript was rejected and he went back to California to work as a deck hand on a freighter and then a caretaker for a lodge in Nevada.
In 1930, Steinbeck married Carol Henning. She stopped advertising and helped Steinbeck write by being a typist, secretary, and copyreader. In 1931, around ten million Americans had no jobs. The Great Depression had hit, but the Steinbecks were doing okay. John’s father allowed them to stay in a
cottage without rent and gave them twenty-five dollars a month. Carol earned a bit of money which helped too.
John Steinbeck began Of Mice and Men in 1936, and thanks to all of those jobs in ranches and fields, John knew about migrant workers. His book would be about realistic farming conditions in Salinas Valley. Of Mice and Men and other novels after that were going to make him famous, and most of them were about farm laborers. After publishing Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck made it a Broadway show and then began work on The Grapes of Wrath. In 1943, Steinbeck divorced Carol and married Gwyndolyn Conger. He had two sons before he divorced her and married Elaine Scott in 1950.
During his life, John Steinbeck received the U.S. Medal of Freedom and the Nobel Prize for Literature. His 1930s fiction gained national recognition and Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath were recognized in other countries too. Steinbeck died in his apartment on December 20, 1968 after many strokes. His ashes were buried in the family cemetery in Salinas.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
http://www.theleadershiphub.com/files/images/of_mice_and_men_ver2.preview.jpg
Setting
The setting is the time, place and circumstance in which an event occurs. The setting of "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck takes place in the 1930's during the Great Depression on a ranch in the Salinas Valley in California.
There are three specific places in which this story takes place. It takes place along the banks of the Salinas River near the ranch, in the ranch bunk house, and in the barn.
The banks of the Salinas River was usually the setting of George and Lennie's peaceful relationship. They were always calm and relaxed when walking along the banks of the Salinas River. Not only did the banks of the Salinas River set them in a soothing state, but it was also their hide out place if anything unexpected were to happen.
The ranch bunk house was always filled with arguments and disputes. Many men had to sleep in those bunk houses; therefore many problems arose. Major scenes took place in the bunk house.
The barn was the place of chaos. The barn is where Lennie accidentally smothered and killed Curley's wife. Curley's wife is very whore-like. She allowed him to run his fingers through her hair. He enjoyed the way her hair felt; therefore clawing his large fingers through her head. She screamed for help but all that did was cause Lennie to tighten his grip around her hair and mouth so she could not scream. He pulled her head back so far that he snapped her neck, killing her.
Lennie tried to dispose of her body by hiding her under the hay, but it was obvious that a dead body was laying there. Lennie ran into the bushes on the banks of the Salinas River and waited for George.
map showing California south of San Francisco
Salinas Valley
Historical Context
The Historical context in the story "Of Mice and Men" consists of the Great Depression and the Great Dust Bowl. The Great Depression was an ecenomic downfall that began in some countries in 1928. The Great Dust Bowl was a series of dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American and Canadian prairie lands from 1930 to 1936, caused by severe drought coupled with decades of extensive farming without crop rotation or other techniques that prevented erosion.
During the late 1930s, California was struggling not only with the economic problems of the Great Depression, but also with severe conflict between laborers. Labor conflicts occurred on the docks and packing sheds and fields Steinbeck wrote about the struggles of migrant farm workers. Agriculture as a working-culture was undergoing a historic change. 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. Only a short time before, thousands of travelling single men had roamed the western states following the harvests.
Because of the addition of combines to the fields, the owners of the land had to hire smaller amounts of farmhands. Getting a job was much harder. The use of hundreds of men as laborers was no longer necessary, and only 5 men were needed to work the combine. The job had little pay and long hours.
The Great Depression
The RanchThe Great Dust Storm
Author Biography
John Ernst Steinbeck was born on February 27, 1902 in Salinas, California. His parents, John Ernst Sr. and Olive Steinbeck had four children, all girls except for John who was the third child. Steinbeck’s father managed a flour mill at first, and then went on to become treasurer of Monterey County. Olive Steinbeck taught in a single room school in the rural area.
During the early 1900s, Salinas was a small town of about three thousand people. It is located near Monterey Bay, one hundred miles south of San Francisco. Steinbeck’s father worked hard to help his family but young John had to work to earn money of his own. He worked at nearby ranches during the summer.
In high school, John earned B’s and B-pluses and also was associate editor of the school newspaper. Then in 1919, Steinbeck started college eighty miles north of Salinas at Stanford University in Palo Alto. He earned average grades and dropped out after two years. During the next two years, he worked on a ranch south of Salinas and then went back to Stanford. Sometimes he attended classes and sometimes he didn’t since he was occasionally ill or didn’t know what career he wanted to pursue. When he wasn’t in class, he worked many different jobs. He was a clerk in Oakland for a time and he also worked in the beet and barley fields of Salinas. He wrote about this experience in the fields in Of Mice and Men.
Steinbeck went back to Salinas and worked as a bench chemist for Spreckel’s Sugar Company. He wrote during his free time. In January 1923, he went back to Stanford and got A’s and B’s in the next three years. The Stanford Spectator received two of his stories. When he was twenty-three, he left Stanford after five years in 1925 without a degree or ideas for a job. He went to New York City on a freighter and there he worked as a reporter for the New York American. He was fired since his writing was “too subjective for newspaper reporting” (Telgen 241). Steinbeck’s book manuscript was rejected and he went back to California to work as a deck hand on a freighter and then a caretaker for a lodge in Nevada.
In 1930, Steinbeck married Carol Henning. She stopped advertising and helped Steinbeck write by being a typist, secretary, and copyreader. In 1931, around ten million Americans had no jobs. The Great Depression had hit, but the Steinbecks were doing okay. John’s father allowed them to stay in a
John Steinbeck began Of Mice and Men in 1936, and thanks to all of those jobs in ranches and fields, John knew about migrant workers. His book would be about realistic farming conditions in Salinas Valley. Of Mice and Men and other novels after that were going to make him famous, and most of them were about farm laborers. After publishing Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck made it a Broadway show and then began work on The Grapes of Wrath. In 1943, Steinbeck divorced Carol and married Gwyndolyn Conger. He had two sons before he divorced her and married Elaine Scott in 1950.
During his life, John Steinbeck received the U.S. Medal of Freedom and the Nobel Prize for Literature. His 1930s fiction gained national recognition and Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath were recognized in other countries too. Steinbeck died in his apartment on December 20, 1968 after many strokes. His ashes were buried in the family cemetery in Salinas.
Works Cited
Telgen, Diane. "Of Mice and Men."Novels for Students." Volume 1. 1997.
http://www.steinbeck.sjsu.edu/images/photo-jpg
http://www.notablebiographies.com/images/uewb_09_img0658.jpg
External Links
John Steinbeck Official Website