Of Mice and Men is a work of realistic fiction that depicts the struggles of migrant farm workers in the years following the Great Depression. The setting of the novella—the Salinas Valley in the 1930s—is critical to the reader’s understanding of the events that unfold as both time and place are essential to the plot line. Steinbeck’s familiarity with the landscape and the general feeling of the times reflects his own upbringing in Salinas, California. Historically, this region of Northern California is known for its agricultural industry, and “Dust Bowl Migrants”—refugees from the southern plains—traveled to the Salinas Valley in the 1930s in search of a “promised land” (Karsten, Jayne. “The Dust Bowl Migrants Move West.” The Kennedy Center, 2022). Much of Steinbeck’s work features migrant and/or marginalized characters and explores the universal experiences of the ordinary man.

In his 1936 novel, In Dubious Battle, Steinbeck explores capitalist exploitation and the plight of migrant workers. Although Steinbeck is most famous for his social protest fiction The Grapes of Wrath (1939) and his magnum opus, East of Eden (1952)—he penned several works of journalistic nonfiction.