2011 reading challenge: a banned book.

My 2011 reading challenge pick in the “Banned Book” category is John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, which according to the American Library Association is consistently ranked among the top ten most frequently challenged books for a variety of reasons including violence, cruelty to animals and the lack of strong female characters. But my guess is that what really ends up getting the book banned is the way it ends -- because it clearly makes the case that mercy killing can be the form that compassion takes.


Compassion is one of several themes that run through this depression era short novel, originally titled Something That Happened and later changed to Of Mice and Men – a line taken from a poem by Robert Burns: “the best laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft agley.” It’s the story of two migrant workers whose dream of someday owning their own little farm where they can settle down to “live off the fatta the lan’ is impossible to attain. But the novel is really all about the bond between a child-like, developmentally disabled man and his loyal friend who has taken on the responsibility of looking out for him.


Classic pieces of literature are those that tell us something timeless and true about life and human nature in a way that engages our understanding and empathy. Steinbeck has done that here. Of Mice and Men deals with classic themes: courage vs. cowardice, strength vs. weakness, innocence vs. experience, loneliness and the longing to belong, alienation and isolation, duty, the burden of being responsible for others, the task of mercy, and the weight of compassion.

John Steinbeck, who is said to have preferred writing with pencils, and often used as many as 60 each day, is one of America’s finest writers. He didn’t graduate from college, and most likely he never enrolled in a writers workshop or signed up for a course in creative writing. He did try his hand at free-lance writing in the 20’s but failed at it and eventually turned his attention to novels. His first success was in 1935 with Tortilla Flat filled with rough and earthy humor. Of Mice and Men was published in 1937 and The Grapes of Wrath, widely considered to be his best work, appeared in 1940.

Steinbeck’s sympathies for migrant workers and the struggles of working-class people didn’t set well with everyone. In 1942, an unidentified informant complained to J. Edgar Hoover: "For some time past I have resented books by Steinbeck, for they portray such unrepresentative pictures of our American life in rural districts. I live near the Everglades farms district and most of the migrants out there live better than I do, while they are here for the picking season."

In 1962 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature “for his realistic as well as imaginative writings, distinguished by a sympathetic humor and a keen social perception.” In 1979, John Steinbeck’s portrait was featured on a commemorative stamp.

And in 1996 John Steinbeck’s widow created the Steinbeck award given to artists whose work reflects her husband’s democratic ideals and concern for the common man. Past recipients include Bruce Springsteen, Joan Baez, Arthur Miller and Sean Penn.

The National Steinbeck Center, located in his hometown of Salinas, California, provides opportunities for visitors to learn about literature and history, agriculture and art, as well special events and educational programs.