Of Mice And Men - Context
• After World War I, America went through a difficult time economically, which especially affected poor people living in rural areas.
• The recession (economic downturn) led to a drop in the price of farm crops, which meant that farmers were forced to produce more goods in order to earn the same amount of money.
• To meet this demand, many farmers bought more land and invested in expensive agricultural equipment, which plunged them into debt.
• The stock market crash of 1929 only made matters worse.
• Banks were forced to collect debts and many people could not afford to continue paying their mortgages.
• Because of this, many farmers lost their property and were forced to find other work.
• But doing so proved very difficult, since the nation’s unemployment rate had risen greatly, peaking at nearly 25% in 1933.
• The increase in farming activity across the Great Plains states (such as Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas) caused the precious soil to erode.
• This erosion, coupled with a seven-year drought that began in 1931, turned once fertile grasslands into a desert-like region known as the Dust Bowl.
• Hundreds of thousands of farmers packed up their families and few belongings, and headed for California, which, for numerous reasons, seemed like a promised land.
• California’s mild climate promised a longer growing season and, with soil favorable to a wider range of crops, it offered more opportunities to harvest.
• Despite these promises, though, very few found it to be the land of opportunity and plenty of which they dreamed.
• Migrant workers came to be known as Okies, for although they came from many states across the Great Plains, 20% of the farmers were originally from Oklahoma.
• Okies were often met with scorn by California farmers and natives, which only made their difficult situation and poverty even more unpleasant.
• In several of his fiction works, including Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck shows how grueling, challenging, and often unrewarding the life of migrant farmers could be.
• Just as George and Lennie dream of a better life on their own farm, the Great Plains farmers dreamed of finding a better life in California.
• The recession (economic downturn) led to a drop in the price of farm crops, which meant that farmers were forced to produce more goods in order to earn the same amount of money.
• To meet this demand, many farmers bought more land and invested in expensive agricultural equipment, which plunged them into debt.
• The stock market crash of 1929 only made matters worse.
• Banks were forced to collect debts and many people could not afford to continue paying their mortgages.
• Because of this, many farmers lost their property and were forced to find other work.
• But doing so proved very difficult, since the nation’s unemployment rate had risen greatly, peaking at nearly 25% in 1933.
• The increase in farming activity across the Great Plains states (such as Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas) caused the precious soil to erode.
• This erosion, coupled with a seven-year drought that began in 1931, turned once fertile grasslands into a desert-like region known as the Dust Bowl.
• Hundreds of thousands of farmers packed up their families and few belongings, and headed for California, which, for numerous reasons, seemed like a promised land.
• California’s mild climate promised a longer growing season and, with soil favorable to a wider range of crops, it offered more opportunities to harvest.
• Despite these promises, though, very few found it to be the land of opportunity and plenty of which they dreamed.
• Migrant workers came to be known as Okies, for although they came from many states across the Great Plains, 20% of the farmers were originally from Oklahoma.
• Okies were often met with scorn by California farmers and natives, which only made their difficult situation and poverty even more unpleasant.
• In several of his fiction works, including Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck shows how grueling, challenging, and often unrewarding the life of migrant farmers could be.
• Just as George and Lennie dream of a better life on their own farm, the Great Plains farmers dreamed of finding a better life in California.