Hi! This IGCSE English Literature Context Guide should help you with your studies in Of Mice and Men. It includes: John Steinbeck, Disabilities (Both mental and physical), The elderly, Racism, The Great Depression, The American Dream and Masculinity and Gender. I hope this helps you with revision, ...
IGCSE English Literature (Edexcel): Of Mice and Men Context
John Steinbeck:
- Born in Salinas, California (1902) to a wealthy family
- Enjoyed farming and was a ranch hand over summer breaks
- This experience is heavily influential throughout the novella
- Went to Stanford for many years, doing courses he enjoyed without getting a degree
- Met and married Carol Henning in 1930, however, they divorced in 1943
- Worked in journalism and estate caretaking before writing oMaM
- He was nationalistic
- Completed US war propaganda during WW2 for the government
Fun Facts:
- Steinbeck's dog ate the first draft of oMaM
- It was adapted into an opera in 1969
- Of Mice and Men was not the original title of the novella
- It was ‘Something that Happened’
Disabilities:
- Mental disabilities:
- Unsympathetic treatment towards those with mental disabilities
- Frontal lobotomies were developed in the 1930s, specifically for those who
were perceived to have a mental disability
- People were removed from the family setting and institutionalised, becoming
very lonely
- This is not something which George wished upon Lennie
- Those who has mental disabilities were sterilised without consent
- “Socially ineqadiquite people” could be steralised under thew 1914 modal
Eugenical Sterilisatrion Laws
- There was a life expectancy of only 20 years for these people due to the
harsh treatment
- Physical disabilities:
- There were minimal health and safety regulations to protect workers
- This could imply that the government did not care about the working
class; George and Lennie were worthless in the eyes of the wealthy
- Poorly trained workers meant that accidents were common, and only small
compensation was awarded
- “Freak Shows” were increasinly common, to show off people with disabilities
- People who were not productive members of society were considered as
useless
- Unemployment for disabled people in the 1930s was over 80%
- This validates Candy’s worries about being “canned”
- These people were not distinguished from criminals or the poor, and were
often grouped together with them
- This made them feel worthless
The Elderly:
- Often, life savings were lost during the Great Depression
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