Similarities Between The Great Depression And Of Mice And Men

When looking at some of the greatest novels, it can clearly be seen that historical events play a large role in the storyline and crafting the idea. Authors can take from events such as wars or presidential elections and use them as a way to create a character around that specific event. One major event like this and a novel that builds of that event is the Great Depression and the novella “Of Mice and Men” but John Steinbeck. The story takes place just after the Great Depression and it can be clearly seen that there characters have all been affected by it in different ways. When first reading the book I was unaware and not thinking about that historical connect, but when rereading it it was very clear. The Great Depression can be clearly …show more content…
Taking place between the years of 1929 and 1933, the great depression reshaped America and was devastating to millions of American citizens. Between 13 and 15 million people became unemployed and for them it was impossible to find jobs for years after that (Ferguson, 7). The main conflict of “Of Mice and Men” stems straight from this conflict, as the story starts when Lennie and George both losing their jobs and looking for new ones. Both characters were from the start of the story we in harm from the repercussions of the Great Depression. Knowing about the great depression immediately changes the way one can look at this novella because it explains a lot of the actions taken place. For one, in hindsight it makes more sense on why Lennie and George have to be constantly moving around the country to find new jobs, because there are none. Also, all the jobs they do find are manual labor jobs which makes sense since those were the ones that paid the least and had to work the most hours (Ferguson, 7). The Great Depression did not only lead to economical downfall however, it also lead to extreme prejudice especially towards mental illness which can be seen directly in