Literary Analysis Of John Manbeck's Of Mice And Men

Of Mice and Men Literary Analysis The great leader Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” As a writer John Steinbeck’s weapon is the written word and in his famous novel Of Mice and Men, he ventures to change the ideas and opinions of his readers. Of Mice and Men is set in 1930’s America during the Great Depression. Even though there are some instances in the novel where Steinbeck seems to mirror the attitudes of the past, there also are several instances where the author he displays the need for societal change. He uses the characters in the novel, such as Lennie, to demonstrate the mistreatment of the mentally disabled. He also shows the desperate plight of the economically disadvantaged …show more content…
During the 1930s, the setting of Of Mice and Men, financial insecurity, buying on credit, foreign struggles, and the stock market crash had caused the great depression. Economic hardship was widespread in America and unemployment had reached a peak at nearly twenty-five percent. This was the worst recession in U.S. history. FDR had just been elected president and was trying many policies to attempt to lessen the effects of the Great Depression. One of these major policies was called the New Deal. It is clear that Steinbeck wasn’t happy with how this was going and used his novel Of Mice and Men to attempt to spark change to the economic policy. “‘I’ll work my month an’ I’ll take my fifty bucks an’ I’ll stay all night in some lousy cat house. Or I’ll set in some poolroom till ever’body goes home. An’ then I’ll have fifty bucks more’” (Steinbeck 95). This quote from George shows how ranchers in the Great Depression were essentially set up to fail. They would make next to nothing and easily spend a month’s pay in a day and did not have the education or resources to dig their way out of their own depressive state. Steinbeck also writes, “‘I think I knowed from the very first. I think I knowed we’d never do her. He usta like to hear about …show more content…
Steinbeck clearly chose to address only those social issues in his novel that resonated with him. He advocated for the modification of the treatment of the disabled and the policies of the economy in America during the 1930s through his elaborate characterization and the plight of the working poor. All while choosing to promote his own social agenda which included the poor treatment of blacks and oppression of women. While Steinbeck is able to use his novel as a means to educate his readers, he chooses what change he will promote and that is his