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Pathos
Definition of Setting
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or it can be an imagined... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the... read full definition
Part 1
Explanation and Analysis:
Of Mice and Men is set in the California towns of Soledad and Salinas during the Great Depression, a period of pronounced economic downturn that began in the United States and ultimately affected many nations around the globe. During this time, many men were, like Lennie and George, forced to migrate long distances to perform seasonal work for farms and other businesses. In his depiction of the setting, Steinbeck emphasizes the personal challenges experienced by the many people who found themselves far from home, working long hours for little pay and without much sense of community. In conversation with Lennie in the opening scene of the novella, George registers the personal costs of these wider economic difficulties:
George’s voice became deeper. He repeated his words rhythmically as though he had said them many times before. “Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place. They come to a ranch an’ work up a stake and then they go inta town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they’re poundin’ their tail on some other ranch. They ain’t got nothing to look ahead to.”
George highlights the feelings of displacement and alienation that characterize, for Steinbeck, the life of migrant workers in the American West during the Great Depression. These laborers work far from their families and communities, and because they are so often on the move, they have little sense of place or belonging.
Related Themes:
