BY: Mariah Anastasia and Michael Books: Of Mice and Men Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden

BIOGRAPHY John Steinbeck He was born in Salinas, California He went to Stanford University but didn’t graduate He tried to be a free lance writer in New York, but he failed so he went back to California He was first known for Tortilla Flat it was a funny book series

OF MICE AND MEN CHARACTERS George - He helps take care of Lenny and looks out for him. Lenny - he has mental problems. Always getting into trouble. His dream is to have a farm with George and tend to the rabbits. Candy - is the little old guy with the dog and is the one who finds Curly's wife dead. Curly Crooks - Is the slave that live at the bunkhouse and he talks with Lenny Carlson -He is a mean guy that beats Lenny and then Lenny smashes his hand. -Slim - the only guy who understands the relationship of George and Lenny

Of Mice and Men (1937) Of Mice and Men was published in The main characters are George and Lenny. They go out looking for a new job and place to live because they were on the run. Lenny always gets them into trouble. ( he had mental problems) Since Lenny aunt passed George took care of him. They end up finding a place when they were running through a farm during the great dust bowl.

Mariah’s Opinion In the beginning of the book I had no clue what was going on. As I read it more I understood the situation. I really liked the book and most of the characters. I didn’t like Carlson because he not a very nice person. Personally I did not like the ending to the book. I don’t think they should have killed Lenny.

Time and Place Written: Late May to Late October, 1938 in Los Gatos, California Published: April 14 th, 1939 Setting: 1930’s

Tells a story of the Joad family to help show the life of migrant laborers and how they suffered during the Great Depression. Tom has just gotten out of McAlester Prison where he was for four years because he killed a man during a fight. On his way home Tom ran in to Jim Casy who was his former preacher. He gave up ministry because he thought it was bad that he didn’t feel wrong for having sexual affairs with a woman in the church’s congregation. When they both head over to the Joad house, they’re told by their nutcase neighbor, Muley Graves, told them that the Joads were evicted.

The Joads are now staying at Uncle John’s house. Those living in the house are: Tom’s mom, dad, brother Noah(brain damaged at birth), sister Rose of Sharon(Rosasharn) who is pregnant, her husband Connie Rivers, Grandma, Grandpa, and 16 year old brother Al who is obsessed with cars and girls. They’re planning to go to California to work in the fields. Jim Casy goes along but Grandpa Joe doesn’t want to so they give him medicine that knocks him out; they put him in the car and take him. On their journey, the family dog dies and Grandpa Joe dies of a stroke.

The Wilson family helps them out and starts traveling with them. They make it to California where they are called Okies and they have to stay in a camp but the Wilsons go to jail instead. Grandma Joad dies in the camp. They learn about Weedpatch, a government run camp where they wouldn’t have the police harass them. Tom, Jim, police officers, and other workers get into a fight. Jim takes responsibility and goes to jail. Uncle John leaves to get drunk, Noah goes to live in the woods, and Connie abandons his pregnant wife; They only get Uncle John back.

They leave for Weedpatch. Here they are treated like normal people and Tom finds a job the next day. His job was at the upcoming dance making sure that no fights broke out. They couldn’t find a steady job so they decided to keep on with their journey. They soon came to Hooper Ranch where they pick peaches. They are getting paid a lot because they broke a strike. A fight breaks out between the strike breakers and the strikers ( the strikers are led by Jim Casy). Jim is killed in this and tom killed the man who killed Jim. He gets away. Tom goes to live in the woods while his family lives in a boxcar.

The truth gets out about where they are living so Tom leaves. His family wanted to follow him but a flood comes and they cannot get out because Rosasharn goes into labor. The get on top of the boxcar and Uncle John takes the baby that was born stillborn puts him in a box and sends him down the river. They find a barn on higher land and a barn that they find a man and his son. The man is dying of starvation and since Roshasharn is able to she breastfeeds the man back to health.

East of Eden

Character list The Trask Family Cyrus Trask - the father of Adam and Charles. He also lies about his war storys and truthfully he was shot with in the first hour of war Mrs. Trask - The first wife of Cyrus Trask and the mother of Adam. When cyrus cheats on her with a prostitute during the war she commits suicide Alice Trask - Cyrus’s second wife and the mother of Charles. She never really shows emotion during the book Adam Trask - The son of Cyrus Trask and the father of Aron and Cal. Adam is a goodhearted but somewhat impractical man he ends up falling in love with the most evil women in the book Charles Trask - The son of Cyrus Trask and the half-brother of Adam. Charles is a violent, manipulative man who works on his father’s farm he fills canes part in the novel Aron Trask - The son of Adam and Cathy and the twin brother of Cal. Joins the army after his brothers lies which then he dies in acction (the abel) Caleb Trask - The son of Adam and Cathy and the twin brother of Aron. He plays canes role in the second generation of the book indirectly killing Aron (the Abel).

The Hamilton Family Samuel Hamilton - The patriarch of the Hamilton family. Liza Hamilton - Samuel’s wife and the mother of their nine children. The tiny Liza is a strict, moral woman George Hamilton - The oldest son of Samuel and Liza. Will Hamilton - The second son of Samuel and Liza. He becomes very weathy Tom Hamilton - The third son of Samuel and Liza. He kills his sister on accident which then he kills himself out of grief Joe Hamilton - The youngest son of Samuel and Liza. Joe, a dreamer and academic by nature, Lizzie Hamilton - The eldest daughter of Samuel and Liza. Lizzie, a very minor character, essentially leaves the Hamilton family and chooses instead to associate herself with her husband’s family. Una Hamilton - The second daughter of Samuel and Liza. She dies after she moves into her husbands house Her death crushes Samuel and ages him considerably. Dessie Hamilton - The third daughter of Samuel and Liza. Dessie, who runs a dressmaking shop in Salinas, is not beautiful but has a lovely personality that makes everyone enjoy her company. She dies when Tom gives her salts to soothe her stomach, accidentally aggravating her illness. Olive Hamilton - The fourth daughter of Samuel and Liza. Olive becomes a teacher, which makes her family proud. She is the mother of the narrator of the novel (and indeed, in real life, the mother of John Steinbeck). Mollie Hamilton - The youngest daughter of Samuel and Liza. Mollie is the lovely one, the sweetheart of the family. She marries and moves to an apartment in San Francisco.

Other Characters Cathy Ames - A moral monster, the most evil character in the novel. As a young girl, she murders her parents by arson and then commences a life of prostitution. She later marries and then shoots Adam Trask, abandoning her newborn twin sons in order to return to prostitution. After murdering the brothel owner, Faye, Cathy becomes the madam of the brothel, using drugs to control and manipulate her whores. She takes photographs of powerful men involved in sex acts in order to blackmail them. Aron’s discovery that Cathy is his mother shatters him and spurs the chain of events that leads to his death. Cathy represents Eve in the Cain and Abel story of the novel, introducing sin and evil into the world. She commits suicide after enduring Aron’s response to her. Lee - Adam Trask’s dutiful cook and housekeeper, Abra Bacon - The daughter of the corrupt county supervisor in Salinas Mr. Edwards - A man who runs a prostitution ring throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut. he beats her nearly to death, and she crawls away to the nearest farm— that owned by Charles and Adam Trask. Faye - The madam at the Salinas whorehouse where Cathy works as a prostitute. Cathy poisons Faye gradually, and after Faye finally dies, takes over the brothel. Ethel - A prostitute at Faye’s brothel who obtains proof that Cathy murdered Faye. Ethel tries to blackmail Cathy for a payment of $100 each month but is later discovered to have drowned. Joe Valery - An escaped convict who is employed as a bouncer at Cathy’s brothel.

Summery of east of eden The narrator tells the story in the third person switching the view over MANY diff charicters through out the book. John Steinbeck writes a great book sibling rivalry as he examines what we become vs. what we may become. The Biblical tale of Cain and Abel sets the tone as we are introduced to two sets of brothers. Each tries to win the love of his father in different ways. The story of why one brother succeeds while another feels unloved is beautifully told. Adam Trask, from the first set of brothers, repeats his own story with his sons, the twins Aron and Caleb. The enduring themes of light vs. dark, good vs. evil, hatred vs. love, and always the free will, the ability to choose one's own destiny. Cathy, the whore with a heart of stone, has to be one of the most evil characters in this book. She kills her parents, beds her husband's brother on her wedding night, shoots her husband and desserts her infant sons. And, all this before she turns really bad! Truly a character that is like pure evil but she keeps you interested in the book. On the other hand there are the wonderful characters of Samuel and Lee, men you will remember for their smarts, caring, and niceness. And there is Adam, a weird man until his re-birth and spectacular failure finds him caught in a web of good and evil that he struggles with.through out the whole story I found out that John Steinbeck put himself into the novel, as Samuel Hamilton is based on his own grandfather. The entire Hamilton clan is one that represents the true "salt of the earth"