John Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath from personal life experience. The novel, The Grapes of Wrath, concerns a group of people labeled "Okies" in the nineteen-thirties who were driven from their farms and from their land during the Dust Bowl (a period of severe drought). Steinbeck lived in the United States through the depression and, therefore, was aware and knowledgeable of the effect that this historical period had on Americans. To research the topic that he wished to write about even more, Steinbeck traveled and lived with the Okies during the depression (O'Connor, pp 60-1). Steinbeck experienced what it was like to be despised by the rest of the country and to live the life of his characters (O'Connor, p 61).

Of Mice and Men also reflected Steinbeck's personal experiences. This novel is about two lower class farm hands that travel from town to town attempting to find a steady job. This novel was also set i

Many aspects of John Steinbeck's childhood are reflected in Of Mice and Men. John Steinbeck was born and raised in Salinas Valley, California. Of Mice and Men is set entirely in this part of California and Steinbeck goes into great detail in the novel to describe it. Salinas Valley was the background for many of his books and the home of the characters he wrote about (O'Connor, p10). Much of Steinbeck's childhood was spent out of doors so he could be close to nature and so he could become involved with other people outside of his family's circle of friends, such as the Mexican-Americans, farm-laborers, and hobos (O'Connor, pp 11-13). These people gave Steinbeck the ideas for many of his characters in Of Mice and Men. During Steinbeck's youth, he learned what it was like to be a hired hand and was living and working with the drifting poor people. Steinbeck could understand the dark side of life at a young age and, when he became a writer, chose to write from the perspectives of people in these situations (O'Connor, p17). The influence of the people Steinbeck met in his youth and the type of childhood he had are reflected in Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath.

Steinbeck's passion for writing and for the topics and characters he wrote about is evident in The Grapes of Wrath. Steinbeck's purpose for writing The Grapes of Wrath was to make it clear to Americans that the suffering of these displaced families was completely unnecessary and that America could have easily provided for these people (O'Connor, p67). A controversial quote in Chapter twenty-five shows Steinbeck's message clearly, "Burn coffee for fuel in the ships. Burn corn to keep warm, it makes a hot fire. Dump potatoes in the river and place guards along the banks to keep the hungry people from fishing them out. ... There is a crime here that goes beyond denunciation ... and children... must die because a profit cannot be taken from an orange." (Steinbeck, 1939, p477).

n the nineteen-thirties. Steinbeck was able to relate to these characters because before he found success as an author, he traveled across America from California to New York looking for jobs (O'Connor, pp25-31). Even when Steinbeck began writing, he was struggling for work because this was

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