Of Mice and Men Background

Genre: Novella

Of Mice and Men falls into the social realism genre, which aims to depict the harsh realities of the working-class people, protesting the injustice in society and the system. In this book, Steinbeck highlights the struggles of the migrant agricultural laborers during the Great Depression. It portrays the deeper anxiety and isolation confronted by the working-class people who are disabled or black. During the Great Depression, working-class people would travel far in the hope of getting a temporary job. The class divide among these workers and property owners has also been shown realistically where Curley, the boss’ son, inflicts random violence on the workers simply because, unlike them, he can’t be fired. The gulf between the laborers and property owners is also clearly depicted in the dream of land ownership, which is the highest achievement for any laborer.

Of Mice and Men is not strictly a novel and can be best described as a novelized play. It can be divided into three acts of two scenes each, with each chapter comprising a scene. According to critic Susan Shillinglaw, the work can be classified as an experimental “play-novelette, intended to be both a novella and a script for a play.” This play-like structure allowed the work to be easily adapted to the stage. The first Broadway production was held in 1937, just a year after the book’s publication. It has also been frequently adapted into cinema—first in 1939 and then in 1992.