OF MICE AND MEN

SETTING

• When: 1930
• Where: South of Soledad, California
• What: This book is about the adventures of 2 men: George & Lennie.
• They are broke, searching for a job as farmers during the Great Depression

MIGRANT WORKERS: WHY

• They were necessary because the took the jobs that people didn't want to do
• They bettered cheap labor
• Migration waves: 1820-1870, 1880s-1920s
• Worked in farms, and factories
• Often found in sweat shops

MIGRANT WORKER: WAGE

• Varied from job to job and place to place
• $1:90-$3:50

WHAT DID FARM AGENCIES DO

• FSA
• Tired to resettle farmers in group farms
• Provided land more suitable for agriculture
• Purchased submarginal land

AMERICAN DREAM

• American dream during great Depression became nightmare
• Once land of opportunity, now land of despair
• Many Americans lost jobs, which caused the wealth and prosperity of American Dream to fade

GREAT DEPRESSION

• Began: October 1929 (Black Tuesday)
• Ended: November 1940
• Effects: New Deal, Migration to urban areas
• Unemployment rate: 25% in 1933

ALLUSION OF THE TITLE OF MICE AND MEN

• The title is derived from a poem called "To a Mouse" by Robert Burn
• comes from the line that says: "The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men, ."
• It means that you can have a great dream that you continuously plan how to get and work towards, .
• but things have a way of falling apart and sometimes turning tragic

IDIOMS

• Blow their stake: lose/spend all money
• Blowin in our jack: losing, gambling our money
• In hot water: to be in trouble
• Jungle up: to camp out

BANNED BOOK

• been challenged and/or banned since the 1950
• due to the promotion of......
• euthanasia
• Racial slurs
• Offensive language

JOHN STEINBECK

• Author of the book of mice and men
• received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962
• for his realistic and imaginative writings,

GARY SINISE

• American actor, film director, and musician.
• Played George Milton in the movie Of Mice and Men.

JOHN mALKOVICH

• American actor, producer, director, and fashion designer.
• Played Lennie Small in the movie Of Mice and Men

JAMES FRANCO & CHRIS O'DOWD

• James Franco: American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and author
• Chris O'Dowd: Irish actor and comedian
• Both acted out in the broadway show Of Mice and Men

WORK CITED