2. The loneliness and isolation within a marriage...

3. The American Dream: ‘...all men are created equal...’
Life was tough and harsh during these times and Steinbeck uses this setting and context to show how impossible his characters’ dreams were. He is playing with the idea of the fading and impossible American Dream (if ever it was really true anyway), a big part of America’s cultural identity. The Declaration of Independence stated, ‘...all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’ ‘...but some animals are more equal than others...’ (‘Animal Farm’ George Orwell- 1945)

4. And for women...
Amelia Earhart- set the woman’s flying speed record
Despite female role models emerging it would still be a long time for attitudes to change. Women were often still regarded as best placed in domestic activities and Hollywood images reinforced stereotypes of this idea alongside the sexual predators who would bring men down! That said, Steinbeck presents perhaps a more contradictory image with CW- child-like and innocent qualities... why?

5. The Great Depression
Title comes from Robert Burns’ poem ‘To a Mouse’ and the line ‘The best-laid plans o’ mice an’ men/ Gang aft agley’ which means even really prepared plans often go wrong (doom!) American stock market crashed and thousands of people lost everything. Banks closed and people couldn’t afford to buy goods which meant thousands of people ended up unemployed. Also even farmers lost everything and had to start again- machines led to over-production so prices fell and due to a huge drought in the 1930s, large areas of farmland became desert. The pessimism in the novel reflects society’s mood at this time as investing in the stock market to get rich quickly back fired and all the glamour that Hollywood was promising was out of reach (always was!!!).

6. The American Dream in the New Frontier...
The Dream is also linked to the New Frontier- in the 19th Century most of Western America was unexplored and largely uninhabited so many people travelled there to claim land so they could leave the restrictions of what they were born into and be their own boss. Reality was that their lives were very harsh and by 1900 there was no more land to conquer- the Dream was dead.

7. Explore how Steinbeck uses place (exemplar introduction for CA...)
Steinbeck places his characters into a powerful setting in ‘Of Mice and Men’ to highlight how harsh and lonely people’s lives could be in the 1930s. He creates a strong sense of place which not only creates powerful realism, but is also used symbolically within the novel. From the less easily defined larger setting of California and America, to the magnified intensity of Crooks’ stable, Steinbeck crafts his cinematic vision and allows a modern reader into this 1930s world. The belief in the American Dream had faded at this time and other economic problems meant wide-spread poverty and unemployment was common, so characters like George and Lennie would face a difficult life as migrant workers. Even those who found some stability would struggle in these difficult times, with very little if any support for the vulnerable in society. Steinbeck constructs both misfits and potential survivors moulded by these conditions to examine and capture this harsh time in history. Curley’s Wife is one such misfit who

8. How to analyse the way place is used in Part One to introduce character...
The setting is used to open the novel and create a peaceful and calm atmosphere before the characters are introduced, ‘The water is warm too, for it has slipped twinkling over the yellow sands...’ Steinbeck establishes the link between humans and nature, and uses sound images, ‘footsteps on crisp sycamore leaves,’ to make George and Lennie’s entrance cinematic.

9. Continued...
Steinbeck presents immediate contrasts between the two main characters as they are introduced for the first time and he magnifies the differences by dressing them in the same ‘uniform’ of denim. He chooses to contrast size, movement and facial detail in particular. The contrast in size, with Lennie described as ‘huge’ and George ‘small’ is the most obvious, and the highly cinematic opening with Lennie looming behind already draws our attention to the small one being the leader- not what we would expect. The facial descriptions are also contrasted and George’s ‘restless eyes’ could suggest hidden depths to his character, whereas Lennie’s ‘shapeless’ face seems child-like and undeveloped.

10. Setting and context creates their weaknesses and will destroy their dreams...
Jealousy based on stereotypical male insecurity (size/sex)- timeless. Mental disability- like a child/animal. Physical disability and age- a victim of his work and society. Being black- born into ‘freedom’ and segregation- education and knowledge makes his prison even more painful. Being female- unrealistic attitudes towards women at that time- sexism and stereotyping. Marrying to escape home. Childlike and innocent.

11. The loneliness and isolation within a marriage...

12. Identify patterns and write a lot about a little...
Steinbeck places the inevitable death of Curley’s Wife in the contrasting setting of the barn. Whereas the bunkhouse and harness room are clearly the territory of the men, the barn has been woven into the novella as where the animals rest and are cared for. The use of this setting is perhaps Steinbeck returning both Lennie and Curley’s Wife to the natural world where neither are able to survive due to their vulnerabilities, reducing them to the status of animals. Interestingly he presents an atmosphere of comfort and peace which creates an even stronger sense of the inevitability of both her death and Lennie’s fate. Steinbeck uses light imagery again to do this, and just as Curley’s Wife is first framed with light in Chapter 2 to perhaps soften her brittle character, he also uses light here as a powerful cinematic technique to direct our attention to the hay where she will lie very soon as well as create a warm and peaceful atmosphere to almost welcome the death to come, ‘ ...afternoon sun sliced in through...the buzz of flies in the air, the lazy afternoon humming.’ The sound images add another layer to this scene, with the use of soft and sensuous onomatopoia very much a part of the peaceful atmosphere.

13. Language techniques
Physical descriptions of characters- contradictory child-like?
Animal imagery (similes, metaphors)
Symbolism (red; setting; names; )
Setting and place description- contrast between nature and life on the ranch
Authentic dialogue (1930s slang; racist and sexist language of the time)
Simple style- the characters are telling their own stories
Soledad means ‘solitude’ or ‘loneliness’

14. Structure 6 chapters/sections
Chapter 1 establishes the main characters
Chapter 2 introduces the others and the main conflict
Drama and tension in final chapters leading to climaxes in Chapter 5 and 6
Cyclical structure- comes back to where it all began- the setting is the same- balanced
Foreshadowing woven throughout the text to suggest fates of characters are inevitable: red dress; escape plan; violence escalates; dead mice; dead girl; setting
Setting description positioned at the beginning of each chapter

15. Form Novella- a tragedy
A novel written like a play: important exits and entrances; one location for each chapter/section; setting descriptions are like stage directions
Dialogue
Physical descriptions
Third person omniscient narrator
Doomed tone