They work when they can picking crops, but agitators create a violent atmosphere, after wages are cut due to the overabundance of pickers. People are starving and the law is harsh with locked out strikers who fight with desperate workers who become "scabs." This is a forceful story about how a proud family survives, and about the humanity in even the meanest of men. Of Mice and Men George and Lennie are brothers, and all they have is each other. Lennie is strong and mentally retarded. George is trying to take care of him. Lennie kills puppies, because he loves them too much and squeezes them too hard, and he kills a young women, Curly's wife, by accident, because he is trying to stop her from doing what he knows is wrong. Curly's wife comes to visit Lennie, attracted to his strength after he crushes Curly's hand. She gets scared when he strokes her hair and he accidentally breaks her neck trying to keep her quiet. George takes Lennie out to the field and tells him once more about the rabbits they will have when they buy their ranch, and when Lennie cannot see, George shoots him, killing him to save him from the trial and hanging which would surely follow. Everyone assumes George was defending himself. The people in this book are very real and Lennie is especially well done. This novel not only pointed out the plight of the poor, but also the problems of the mentally...

Lennie is totally peaceful, but his strength makes him an object for attack.
Steinbeck believed in the dignity of man and that people deserved to live decently. He was aware of the problems of poverty and saw poor people as equal to the rich. He favored socialist politics, though he toyed with communism for some time until he became disillusioned with the tactics employed. He was considered a radical by many. He used simple language and brilliant description to capture the characters of his stories, and influenced many writers who followed.

Steinbeck told real stories about real people. He understood how they thought and felt, and identified with the poor, though he was not poor. His characters come alive for the reader, and his themes did a lot to help the poor in California, though his belief in socialist causes made him a target for McCarthy in the 1950s. He is certainly one of the greatest writers in America, perhaps the world, and the California novels painted a brilliant picture of life in the 20s-60s in California. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962 and Pulitzer Prize for Literature for The Grapes of Wrath.

Sources

Steinbeck, John: In Dubious Battle 1936

The Red Pony 1938

The Grapes of Wrath 1939

Of Mice and Men 1937

The Pearl 1944