Critical Contexts “the [wall] of background”: Cultural, Political, and Literary Contexts of Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, Barbara A. Heavilin 13 Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men on Page, Stage, and Screen, Nick Taylor 31 A Critical Overview of Of Mice and Men, Brian Railsback 44 “Which way do we go, George?”: Intellectual Disability in Steinbeck and the American Consciousness, Kathleen Hicks 64

Critical Readings Surveying Steinbeck’s “Coupla Acres”: Of Mice and Men’s Place in High School Curricula Today, Laura Smith and Luchen Li 83 Curley’s Wife: Feminist Approaches to Of Mice and Men, Mimi Reisel Gladstein 102 “a new dramatic form”: Echoes of Sophocles in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, Barbara A. Heavilin 116 Of Mice and Meaning in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, Tom Barden 136 Of Mice and Men for an International Audience: Reception of the Novel in the Slovene Cultural Space, Danica Čerče 145 “The stable buck’s a nigger”: Race and Racism in Of Mice and Men, Tom Barden 161 Steinbeck’s Humble Parable: “He who has ears, let him hear,” Kathleen Hicks 169 A Male World: The Masculine Psyche in Of Mice and Men, Mimi Reisel Gladstein 192

v The Migrant Bunkhouse in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men: Images and Dreams of Home, Cecilia Donohue 203 Of Mice and Men and Morality, Richard E. Hart 214

Resources A Brief Chronology of Events in John Steinbeck’s Life, Robert B. Harmon 233 A Chronological Listing of John Steinbeck’s Works 241 Selected Bibliography in Chronological Order 243 About the Editor 247 Contributors 249 Index 253

vi Critical Insights