Of Mice and Men, published by
John Steinbeck in 1937, is set in the
Salinas Valley of California during the
Great Depression. In 1936, Steinbeck took a journalistic assignment for the
San Francisco News, investigating the migrant working situation in California. The stories and circumstances he discovered are reflected in
Of Mice and Men. The novella’s two main characters, George and Lennie, embody the American struggle to survive the
Depression, but the novella is timeless because it captures the personal isolation and suffering present in the land of opportunity.
Of Mice and Men is more than a little book about a certain time and place; it covers friendship and sacrifice, not to mention a healthy dose of the bittersweet futility of holding onto dreams. Even as Steinbeck was reworking the text as a play script, he was developing its broader themes and context for his masterwork
Grapes of Wrath.
Of Mice and Men can be thought of as a sketch for that great painting, though it still stands alone. For its stark and unflinching observations, this is one of Steinbeck’s best-loved pieces – and a significant contribution to his
Nobel Prize in literature.