America 1929: John F. Kennedy, the Great Writer

The serialization of "Of Mice and Men" was placed right next to the news about the investigation committee.

This is an extremely bold layout.

On the left are cold, hard corruption statistics: a $5000 bribe, a 7-minute phone call, and a case that was not accepted.

On the right is a novel full of warmth yet cruelty: two homeless men, one clever and desperate, the other dull and naive, walk on a dusty highway, trying to find a job.

The response to the first chapter was somewhat slow. After all, people were used to reading Arthur's swearing, and suddenly seeing him write a novel felt a bit strange.

But as we watched, everyone was moved by what George and Lennie had gone through.

George and Lennie fled the previous town and sat by a roadside ditch, where Lennie kept telling George about the little farm of their dreams.

Then, when they actually entered the farm, they encountered unprecedented bullying.

From the first day Lennie stepped onto the farm, Colley had his eye on him.

Kerr believed that any man taller than himself should be trampled on.

The short foreman picks on Lenny every day, mocking his intelligence and testing his patience.

He verbally abused George in front of everyone, forced Lennie to speak, and then burst into laughter when Lennie gave an awkward reply.

Lenny endured it all because George had told him to endure it, for the sake of the job, for the sake of his dream of raising rabbits.

In this cold winter, who isn't George? Who isn't Lenny?

Everyone lives cautiously, harboring humble dreams, such as raising rabbits or having a job, and enduring it all.

A wonderful chemical reaction occurred.

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Readers began to look for parallels between the novel and the news.

Some readers wrote in saying:

"Isn't that foreman, Cowley, who's always picking fights and bullying people, just like Hearst's New York Daily News? They have power, they have money, and they beat up whoever they don't like."

Another reader wrote:

"Lenny reminds me of us voters. We have the vote, but we're always being fooled, always believing the 'rabbit-raising' dream that politicians paint for us. And what happens? We always either mess things up or they mess things up for us."

This interpretation was exactly what Arthur wanted to hear.

Arthur decided to add fuel to the fire.

In his subsequent commentary, he used a very interesting analogy:

Our investigation revealed an "elephant" within the court system.

This kind of elephant is usually invisible, but when you try to sue a big shot, it will suddenly appear and sit on your case file.

It doesn't speak or explain; it just sits there and tells you with its heavy backside: This road is blocked.

In the novel, Lenny always wants to keep a little mouse or rabbit as a pet. He keeps them in his pocket, wanting to protect them.

But elephants don't care about rabbits. When an elephant walks by, it doesn't even look down to see what's under its feet.

Our laws should be like fences protecting rabbits from being trampled to death.

But now, the fence has been sold and replaced with elephant feed.

This review perfectly stitches together the literary metaphors of "Of Mice and Men" with reality.

"Elephant and Rabbit" quickly became a new buzzword.

The New Yorker magazine even drew a cartoon:

A giant elephant (with the word "Tammoni" written on its body) sits on the judge's bench, with a rabbit named "Justice" under its feet.

The pressure from public opinion finally reached The New York Daily News.

Although Hearst was far away in California, he was not blind.

He saw his own newspaper sales declining, while The New York Herald was selling out due to its serialized novels and investigative reports.

More importantly, the cover-up for that defamation case is about to burst.

They had previously bribed the court clerk to ensure the case was "not accepted."

Now all of New York knows about the "$714 a minute" joke, and if they continue to play dumb, it's tantamount to admitting it.

Hearst made a long-distance call, and the editor-in-chief, Thomas Duane, answered.

"That damn Kennedy! Is he writing a novel criticizing me? And that Curry guy, that short, belligerent, gloved fellow, is he alluding to me?"

Thomas wiped his sweat:

"Boss, Corey is a character in a novel, so we can't sue him for that. Besides... in the novel, Corey is a rich kid, while you're a self-made man..."

Hearst roared:

"Shut up! I know who I am! What about that investigation committee? What solid evidence do they have?"

Thomas replied nervously:

"They got the transfer records, although there's no direct evidence yet that we made the transfer, but that clerk Cronin... seems to be on the verge of collapse."

"Idiots, a bunch of good-for-nothings! They had the lawyers issue a statement saying we knew nothing about bribery, that it was a political frame-up! And they hired someone to write an article criticizing that novel, saying it… saying it's vulgar! Pornographic! Spreading defeatist sentiments!"

Thomas nodded meekly in agreement.

The next day, the New York Daily News indeed published a commentary entitled "The Degeneration of Literature: When Writers Begin to Glorify Tramps and Idiots".

The article fiercely attacked "Of Mice and Men," saying it was "full of filthy language and negative ideas" and "a desecration of the American spirit."

In the past, this kind of moralistic approach might have been effective.

But in December 1929, as people looked out at the desolation, this criticism became the best excuse.

A reader wrote in a letter to the New York Herald:

"Glorify the homeless? I am a homeless person now! Mr. Kennedy is the only one who treats us like human beings!"

Meanwhile, Arthur's serialization reached its climax.

Lenny crushed Colley's hand bones.

It was a violent scene. Corey kept beating Lenny, who was bewildered, until George shouted:

"Beat him up, Lenny!"

Lenny grabbed Colley's fist and squeezed it lightly.

Kolly knelt on the ground, screaming and begging for mercy.

On the day this chapter was published, the air in New York seemed to stir with excitement.

This is not just the thrill of a novel's plot; it's the long-suppressed subconscious desire of the people.

They longed to see the arrogant, haughty "Coli" have his hand bones crushed.

That seemingly invincible entity is actually quite fragile.

Arthur wrote a sentence in the editor's note for that day as a footnote to this chapter:

Sometimes, the silent majority remains silent because they don't realize their own power. Until someone shouts, "Beat him up!"

This pun was blatant incitement, and the protests against New York City Hall and lower courts escalated again that day.

That afternoon, Thomas Cronin, the clerk who had accepted the money, entered Samuel Sibyl's office under immense psychological pressure and public condemnation.

He turned himself in.

He walked through the doors of the investigation committee before being dealt with by the Tammany Association.