One issue his work depicts is the great depression. The great depression was a time of economic downfall. The unemployment rate rose to all time highs. Going to over twenty percent nationwide (Encyclopedia Britannica).Its hard to describe what an average person went through living in the depression. Imagine for a moment, waking up one day to find yourself on a dirty floor, a pile of rags, or maybe even the street. You’re wearing the same clothes you wore yesterday except they are holy and dirty. You get up and start to head for work, or school, only to realize you have no place to go. You are hungry but you try to ignore it because you don’t have any money to buy food. You look towards a president who looks the other way. Who offers you lovely Hoover sandwiches an

The very compelling Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men drew reviews from far and wide. These works earned Steinbeck a permanent place in American Literature. He was hailed as a master and as one of the best writers of his time. His work drew much praise. This doesn’t mean that everyone agreed with every single thing he wrote or how he depicted certain things. The review of his masterpiece novel The Grapes of Wrath on Brothers judd.com gave the book an A- review but had a different view of the noble poor.

These are some of the same hardships Lennie and George two characters in Mice and Men had to go through. When they arrive at the bunkhouse you see examples of these hardships. They own basically nothing. They sleep on burlap mattresses and George thinks his bunk has lice, since he found a can of lice powder in his bunk.

had to abandon their home and their livelihoods. They had to uproot and set adrift because tractors were rapidly industrializing their farms. The bank took possession of their land because the owners could not pay off their loan. The novel shows how the Joad family deals with moving to California. How they survive the cruelty of the land owners that take advantage of them, their poverty and willingness to work.

“The sincerity and heartfelt nature of Steinbeck's masterpiece is unquestionable, but 60 years later, we have to face the fact that he, like many intellectuals of the day, was profoundly wrong about where the poor's salvation lay. In fact, the Depression ended when the huge industries were fired up to provide war material and, with little interruption, since then we have a seen an economy that is driven by the concerns of the upper and middle classes, but just as a rising tide lifts all boats, the poor have benefited from this progress “

In Of Mice and Men there are also many examples of the cruelty of the world. Candy’s old sheepdog is an example of what happens when you out grow your usefulness. Carlson wants Candy to let him kill his dog. He tells him it will be quick and painless. He even offers to give him one of the new puppies. In the end he allows them to kill his dog. Candy fears that he to will soon out grow his usefulness and not be welcomed at the ranch anymore. This exemplifies the cruelty of the world that people think a man is like a fruit; you eat the fruit and then throw away the peal.

They also had a different view on were the poor’s salvation laid.

“Even more mistaken is his image of the noble poor. As we have seen, even in our age of Welfare reform, the problem of the underclass is extremely intractable; some folks just won't work, even to better their own lives. Steinbeck was deluded by the Depression, a stark aberration in the long march of Capitalism, which made millions of people desperate, who would otherwise have been gainfully employed.”

Some topics in this essay:
Grapes Wrath, Wrath Brothers, Rose Sharon, President Hoover, Encyclopedia BritannicaIts, Depression Unable, Carlson Candy, Wrath Joad, It’s Crooks, Emergency Council, grapes wrath, joad family, role women, cruelty world, role women family, women family, mice grapes wrath, emergency council 1934, land owners, noble poor, endure racism, racism prejudice, portrayal women, walker president national, national emergency council,