John Steinbeck was a writer who used naturalism in his works to to bring
awareness about problems in society that he dealt with in his own life. He
frequently dealt with the economic and social problems of migrant workers in
California and how they dealt with everyday life. He wrote through his fiction
about what he knew and what affected him personally. Specifically, he wrote
a novella entitled, Of Mice and Men, about two California migrant workers,
George Milton and Lennie Small, who are trying desperately to earn enough
money to buy a couple of acres of their own so that they won’t have to keep
running from there problems all the time. Naturalism was a literary movement
throughout the U.S. and Europe in the late 19th century to the early 20th
century. Naturalism writers had a strong belief in the natural sciences, and
used the ideas of Darwin’s theory of evolution to show how humans are
animals that are changed by external factors, forced to adapt to the conditions
surrounding them (GRO 1). Naturalists often looked at the other side of life,
such as promiscuity, alcoholism, drug use and so on. They saw human beings
as creatures who are controlled by influences beyond their control and
therefore, being denied free will and moral choice. This often made gave them
the reputation of being pessimistic, for there stories were far from fantasy and
the “high life” (GRO 1). Steinbeck grew up in Salinas, California, where he
was born on Feb. 27, 1902. Salinas was a quiet agricultural center close to
the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel and King City. During high school he worked
on nearby farms and ranches. When he graduated from Salinas High School in
1919, he went on to Stanford University where he studied intermittently there,
never receiving a degree. While at Stanford he submitted many manuscripts to
publishing companies but they were constantly rejected. He began taking jobs
at factories for manual labor (LIS 7). He worked as a bench- chemist at
Spreckels beet factory and at the Willoughby Ranch south of Salinas as a
ranch hand (MCC 6-10). In 1925, Steinbeck left California for New York,
where he worked on the construction of Madison Square Garden. After
construction was completed, Steinbeck got a job at the New York American
newspaper where he wrote human interest stories. He was fired from this job
after a short period of time (LIS 7). In 1936, Of Mice and Men r…
…esh and green with every
spring, carrying in their lower leaf junctures the debris of the winter’s flooding;
and sycamores with mottled, white, recumbent limbs and branches that arch
over the pool (STE 1). Steinbeck wrote many novels that were based in
California in the Long Valley, Of Mice and Men was one of the most well
received (MCC 6). By reading this novel, one can get in touch with the plight
of the migrant workers during the Depression through a work of fiction.
Naturalism literature is one of the better ways writers can express themselves
to the greater public, and Steinbeck has done just that with Of Mice and Men.
He showed no indication of believing in a perfect man, that would be
inconsistent with naturalist thinking that humans are “conditional and controlled
by environment, heredity, instinct or chance” (BLO 77). Also, Steinbeck
shows that in life, nature takes control, as Darwin explained. Lennie was
eliminated from a society where he was not considered normal, he was weak,
and he did not fit with the society (BLO 113). Steinbeck wrote about what he
knew and what he believed, and he raised issues that he felt were important
and told stories of the life that he knew.