Lecture notes
GCSE Of Mice and Men Notes
Complete notes for GCSE OMAM exam. Includes insights into context and language analysis with quotes.
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Exam Board Notes on OMAMContext and content
• Set in Salinas, California in the 1930s at the time of the Great Depression.
• The author, John Steinbeck, came from this area and took an interest in the lives of
agricultural workers who were employed on the ranches; he wrote the novel in 1937.
• In the autumn of 1929, the Wall Street Crash meant that millions of dollars were wiped
off the stock market and the country spiralled into a period of unemployment and
runaway inflation.
• At a time of no welfare state, many ordinary people became homeless and hungry.
• George and Lennie represent many men who had to travel around the country to find
work with only their bindles (sacks of possessions) containing a few basic items.
• A number of droughts meant that harvests failed and there was even less food to go
round: people consequently became more desperate, living in very poor conditions.
• Steinbeck demonstrates this poverty in his descriptions of the bunkhouse and its shabby
furnishings.
• There was little regular work and men could be sacked (‘canned’) on the whim of the
ranch boss.
• The context of racial prejudice against black people is explored, especially through the
character of Crooks.
Themes
• Dreams: and especially the ‘American Dream’, are a key theme.
• Loneliness: shown in the example of Curley’s wife, who craves any kind of
companionship, and Crooks who bemoans his isolation.
• Death: the numerous deaths in the novel build from Lennie’s crushing of a tiny mouse
through to the killing of Curley’s wife in the barn and Lennie’s own death at the hands of
his friend.
• Friendship: juxtaposed and contrasted with the theme of loneliness as George and
Lennie’s friendship stands out as unique in the bleak world of the ranch.
Structure and form
The action of the novel takes place from Thursday to Sunday and follows a circular narrative
structure, ending where it began back at the clearing by the river. The story is chronological.
Steinbeck uses a limited number of characters and locations to condense and focus on the
events and themes. He uses foreshadowing, for example in the deaths within the novel (the
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