John Steinbeck (1902-1968)

One of the most influential authors of both the Great Depression and the 20th century, John Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California in 1902. After finishing his literary education at Stanford university, Steinbeck was forced to live on a boat during the Great Depression, and fell in and out of poverty. His "dust bowl fiction" novels most accurately express the dire situation which farmers' experienced during the Great Depression.



Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men follows the story of two tenant workers, George and Lennie, who have fled to California in seek of work because of the Dust Bowl. Steinbeck shows the other side of the Dust Bowl, the hidden part unknown to most Americans, especially in the northeast. Steinbeck very effectively convey's the emotional toll that tenant workers experienced during the depression. This aids in understanding the Great Depression as a whole, both on a political and a personal level.

Similarly, The Grapes of Wrath tells the story of the Joads, a family of sharecroppers forced to move west because of the Dust Bowl. This novel focuses on economic hardship and changes in the Agricultural Industry during the Depression, and lends itself to a very pro-worker and anti-capitalist message.

Both of these novels help readers grasp a more complete sense of the Depression, one that goes beyond the statistical data presented in most history textbooks.

Works Cited

"John Steinbeck - Biographical." John Steinbeck - Biographical. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2014. <http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1962/steinbeck-bio.html>.

"John Steinbeck - Google Search." John Steinbeck - Google Search. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2014. <https://www.google.com/search?q=john+steinbeck&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=j_ZfVK_YD8z3yQS0loIY&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=643#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=3XBgkiGJ9X1oFM%253A%3BE-MSPnh1Tfg1UM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fa3.files.biography.com%252Fimage%252Fupload%252Fc_fill%252Cdpr_1.0%252Cg_face%252Ch_300%252Cq_80%252Cw_300%252FMTE5NDg0MDU1MTM4MzA1NTUx.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.biography.com%252Fpeople%252Fjohn-steinbeck-9493358%3B300%3B300>.

Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Viking, 1939. Print.

Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York: Penguin, 1993. Print.