There is always that one person at work or school who is always complaining about how hard life is and how work sucks, but no one understands those troubles more than people in the '30s who suffered through the Great Depression. John Steinbeck has captured the life of these people through many of his novels, including one of his more popular works, Of Mice and Men. The novella features men from all different paths of life who are or were migrant workers searching for work and trying to survive these harsh times. When the novella begins the reader is introduced to two characters, Lennie and George, two migrant workers on their way to their next job. The novella only follows them for a short period of time but manages …show more content…
Migrant workers barely caught breaks, even when it came to a good night’s sleep. “Workers had to pay rent to stay in shacks that had no plumbing or floor. Larger ranches had them buy their own food (“Mass Exodus”).” The workers had to work all day to earn money and then have to use that money to pay for a place to sleep. It was a way for the farms to kind of earn their money back and trapping these men into debt. This shows the men having to pay for their daily needs. When Lennie and George arrive they are just given this place to sleep and meals. “The men were given free food and did not have to pay to stay there (Steinbeck 10-12).” Steinbeck portrays his character not having to pay for any accommodations but for their personal affairs. This shows Steinbeck did not correctly portray the daily costs of being a migrant worker. Migrant workers had to pay for their daily needs on their own.
John Steinbeck often wrote about the life in the 1930s during the Great Depression era. One of his novella’s, Of Mice and Men, is a prime example of the life styles lived by migrant workers. These are workers who traveled in search of work after their farms were destroyed by the Dust Bowl; these workers were often discriminated against. They were also forced to live in these poor living conditions. Steinbeck, however, failed to portray the daily costs the workers had to pay for. Migrant workers were treated horribly and suffered through so much; they are a part of many who fight to