The Great Depression during 1920s-30s Americans suffered after the IWW, gave rise to some of the most thought provoking intellectuals of the 20th century (like, The Lost Generation). Authors like John Steinbeck (Ernest Hemingway and other writers) understand the difficulties people suffered as a result of the downturn in America's economy. Steinbeck analyzed how the financial crisis specifically affected his home state of California. In his most famous works, "The Grapes of Wrath" and "Of Mice and Men", he emphasizes on the individual performance or failure and how modular groups of people, even two men together, formulate effective myths of social cohesion.