2. Of Mice and Men By John Steinbeck

4. In his own words  “The ancient commission of the writer has not changed. He is charged with exposing our many grievous faults and failures, with dredging up to the light our dark and dangerous dreams for the purpose of improvement.”  Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, 1962

5. Brief Author Bio  Born in Salinas, CA in 1902  Never completed a degree  Met hobos and migrant workers while making money on a sugar plant  Died in 1968

6. Well-known Works

7. Steinbeck’s World

8. The Roaring 20’s

9. And then…the Great Depression  Most severe economic downturn in American history  Began with the Stock Market crash (Oct, 1929)  Lasted until the start of American involvement in World War II  Unemployment rose to 30%

10. And more depression  50% of commercial banks failed  Crop prices fell by 50%  Over-production led to unemployment  Hunger, despair, poverty, homelessness – millions of Americans had their lives destroyed

11. Does this line ever move???

12. The New Deal  The New Deal was Franklin Roosevelt’s response to the Great Depression  One of the movements was the establishment of a modern Welfare State while preserving the capitalist system

13. Continued  Women, blacks and other minorities gained little from the New Deal  The effects of the Depression were exacerbated (made worse) by the ecological disaster of the Dust Bowl which caused many to migrate to California in search of the American Dream – the promised land and wealth

14. “You can stand under my…”

19. The American Dream

20. The Reality

24. Why didn’t we take the train?

25. The book  Of Mice and Men was originally called Something That Happened.  When Steinbeck first thought of the idea for the book he intended it to be for children. Steinbeck told a friend that he was experimenting with a new 'dramatic form'.  In May 1936 he had a written manuscript - but his puppy (a setter called Toby) ate it!  He said of the book: "It is an experiment and I don't know how successful."