During Steinbeck's acceptance speech he defines what good literature is. Because it shows society's strengths  and weaknesses, of mice and men is a prime example of good literature.
     According to Steinbeck in order to write a good novel the writer has to be able to understand what good literature is. Steinbeck says understanding the inner struggles of man and that humanity has its faults as well as its greatness's. "The commission of the ancient writer  has not changed. he is charged with exposing our many grievous faults and failures. He is also delegated to declare and celebrate man's proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit-for gallantry in defeat, for courage, compassion, and love."
     In the novel Of Mice and Men Steinbeck demonstrates his definition of good literature. One way he does this is through the character Curley. Curley shows his faults by not being able to over come his inner struggle with "short man syndrome". He picks on Lennie who has mental retardation and who is also a massive human being. Curley picks on Lennie because he is an easy target and because he is bigger than Curley.  Curley doesn't like big people due to his short man syndrom, as you can tell when his rage exploded.  When Lennie   giggled at Curley, Curley screamed at Lennie "come on you big bxxxxxx. Get up on your feet. No big son-of-a b#$!*& is gonna laugh at me."  This is a prime example of a human not being able to over come his inner struggle.
    Another way Steinbeck showed good literature in this book is with another character named George.  Unlike Curley,George shows his greatness by being able to over come his inner struggle.  George is like Lennie's care taker.  They are always together and George has to keep Lennie out of trouble.  Even though George knows he would better off without Lennie holding him back. He develops a love for Lennie and knows he could never leave him to fend for himsself.  After Lennie accidentally kills Curley"s wife, George is faced with a terrible decision; let Curley find Lennie and kill him with brutality or find Lennie himself and kill him knowing that Lennie's last thoughts were happy.  George raised the gun and steadied it and he brought the  muzzle of it close to the back of Lennie's head.  "The hand shook violently, but his face set and his hand steadied. He pulled the trigger." George decided to do it himself because he would rather Lennie die fast instead of suffering.  So George overcame his inner conflict showing his greatness.
     Understanding people's inner struggles and conflicts is one of the most important things in good literature.  Therefore, Steinbeck has most definitely proved himself worthy of writing good literature.