Interested in farm labourers and
spent time working with them
Inspiration for his wirting
Wrote a number of novels about poor
people who worked on the land and
dreamed of a better life
The Depression
29th October 1929 - Wall Street Crash
Led to the Depression - 1930 - 1936
People lost life savings
1/3 of America were unemployed
Series of droughts in southern
mid-western states
Failed harvests and dried-up land
Farmers forced to move off their land
Economic migrants headed to California
but were turned back
Set up home in large camps in
California valleys
Sought work as casual farmhands
Ranch hands like George & Lennie lucky
to have work
Plot
The story begins when George and
Lennie prepare to arrive at a ranch to
work - and ends in tragedy just four
days later.
Makes it much more dramatic: one event
follows on from another in rapid succession
There is a sense of inevitability - we
sense that there will be no way out for
Lennie.
The story is told in the third person, so we
are provided with a clear, unbiased view of
all the characters.
Circular plot
Time of day
Lennie and George arrive at the ranch in the
morning, early in the day, when possibilities
are open
Lennie dies as the sun is setting, suggests
that Lennie's death was 'right'. The sun sets
when a day is complete, so Lennie dies
when his life is 'complete'.
Characters
George
Good friend to Lennie because of
promise to Lennie's Aunt Clara