Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men: Influences and Motivations

Introduction: An Iconic Novel of the Great Depression

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is one of the most iconic novels in American literature. The novel presents the reader with a slice of life depicting the struggles of two forgotten people during the Great Depression. These two individuals are migrant ranch workers who travel around the country looking for work: George Milton and Lennie Small. George is sharp-minded but has a somewhat rough personality and little formal education; Lennie is a hulking man who experiences some form of mental condition that leaves him severely learning disabled. Amid this hardship and struggle, both men share a dream of one day owning their own piece of land on which to farm and raise livestock.

This dream is perhaps one of the more powerful reasons why the novel has been such an enduring part of American literature and such common required reading in high schools for so long. In spite of the enormous hardship that George and Lennie must continually confront, and the difficulty they experience simply surviving, they still hold onto a vision of a better future that sustains them. Steinbeck is a writer who avoids flowery language and generally keeps his prose simple and powerful — a stylistic choice that proves entirely fitting for the world he depicts.

Steinbeck's Style and Literary Purpose

This stylistic choice is in many ways a complete necessity, because Of Mice and Men explores fundamental issues that were prevalent during the early years of the twentieth century: discrimination, the roles of women in society, the dangers and consequences of being injured on the job, an unsophisticated judicial system, the lack of opportunity for upward mobility, and the cruel hardships of farm life. Above all, Steinbeck tackles the never-ending universal issue of human rights (Weisberg). By keeping his sentences terse and spare, there is no way to conceal the issues at hand — they take center stage.

"In writing, Steinbeck was committed to engaging his characters. By selecting the proper plot, emotion, character, and tempo, he enabled readers to become part of the story. He once wrote, 'I want the participation of my reader. I want him to be so involved that it will be his story'" (Schultz, viii). This sentiment reveals a great deal about what the act of writing — and what literature as a whole — meant to Steinbeck. Literature was something with the power to transport; it allowed the reader to escape their current reality and have a new, authentic experience. This is a tremendous gift, and it shows that Steinbeck was, at heart, a generous writer.

Biographical and Historical Influences

Interestingly, a childhood experience may have partly influenced the title of the book. "Steinbeck was sensitive about his appearance. His sisters nicknamed him 'mouse' because of his large ears and nose. He was also sensitive about his reputation. Although he continued to write into the 1960s, he felt critics only praised his books from the 1930s" (Williams, 4). However, this is not the only influence behind the title. The title came directly from a line in the Scottish poet Robert Burns's poem "To a Mouse": "the best laid plans o' mice an' men" (Williams, 9). Burns was keenly aware of the uncertainties and difficulties of life as a farmer, and the poem reflects on the fallibility of making plans and on the unpredictability of life in general.

This sensibility is entirely in keeping with Steinbeck's own experience. Throughout his early adulthood, he encountered the struggles and uncertainties faced by ranch hands — men travelling with bundles on their backs, moving from one ranch to another in search of work (Williams, 7). As is the case with most writers, Steinbeck wrote what he knew. His life experiences undoubtedly shaped his decision to write this novel. Steinbeck's "experiences of life in the 1920s and '30s also influenced his work. Among other jobs, Steinbeck was a journalist before becoming a well-known novelist. He also spent some time working on ranches in order to better understand the lives of the migrant workers" (Kew).

California, the Dust Bowl, and the Landscape of Desolation

Before examining Steinbeck's life choices and how they influenced the novel's events, one must also consider the novel's historical and geographical backdrop. Many of Steinbeck's novels are set in the West, with California holding a place of particular significance. "The dream of California motivates many of Steinbeck's characters. California is known as the Golden State. Its climate is sunny and its soil is fertile" (Williams, 4). California offered warm beaches, sunny weather, majestic mountains, and farmland capable of producing an abundance of fruits and vegetables — a stark contrast to the bleak conditions that many workers had left behind. In the mid-nineteenth century, the greatest pull for people to come to California had been the Gold Rush and the prospect of immediate wealth.

Much of what influenced Steinbeck's stories were the national events he lived through himself (Meltzer, 73). The 1920s were the decade when Steinbeck was fresh out of college — a time when an economic boom caused banks and individuals to over-lend and overspend. This proved unsustainable. "The Wall Street crash of 1929 marked the start of the Depression. Businesses closed, workers lost their jobs, and farm prices tumbled. Environmental disaster made things worse for farmers hit by the Depression. Between 1935 and 1938, fierce storms hit the parched prairie grasslands of the Midwest, which had been overused for grazing cattle and growing wheat. The winds whipped off thin, parched soil in clouds of dust, creating the Dust Bowl" (Williams, 7). The economic and environmental conditions of this decade created a distinctive backdrop in Steinbeck's life — one that left a tremendous imprint on his memory and his imagination.

This was what Steinbeck knew and experienced: a dusty landscape of seeming desolation, scarce economic opportunity, and exhausted soil. The windswept quality of the land was almost a physical manifestation of how the people, too, felt — windswept, forgotten, and unstable.