A comparison between "The Great Depression "and "Of Mice and Men" by Steinbeck

Essay by Alpine CulpritHigh School, 10th gradeA+, November 1996

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The Great Depression is comparable to Lennie and George's life. I would like

to give a comparison of George Milton and Lennie Small to the Great

Depression. The time that this story took place was during the Great

Depression. John Steinbeck captured the reality of this most difficult time.

During the Great Depression people needed to travel together to share

chores and duties to make a living until something better came along. That is

the way George and Lennie traveled. They traveled together to take care of

each other but George took care of Lennie the most, because he was always

getting in trouble. 'You do bad things and I got to get you out.' (Of Mice

and Men p.11). During the Great Depression money was very scarce. You

had to travel around to find a job in order to make money to survive. Lennie

and George were in that type of predicament.

Keeping enough money until

the next job was difficult because prices were rising during the Great

Depression and you had to budget your money. During this depression most

people worked on farms because after the stock market crashed people

realized that the reason the stock market crashed was because farms were not

producing enough goods. People started to work on farms more to help

everyone. Lennie and George worked for ranches and also in the fields.

'He's a good skinner. He can rassel grain bags, drive a cultivator. He can do

anything.' (Of Mice and Men p.22).

If you really look closely, George and Lennie's way of life and the

Great Depression have a good deal in common. George and Lennie were

outcasts in life. George Milton was small in size and a very smart man

compared to Lennie. He was actually only of average intelligence. Lennie...