Of Mice and Men is a tragedy novel originally written in 1937 by John Steinback. It narrates the journey and experiences of two men named George Milton and Lennie Small. Both these characters are displaced migrant ranch workers who move from place to place in California and are in search of new job opportunities during the Great Depression in the United States.

George Milton is a relatively small but intelligent man. His partner Lennie seems to be his opposite, he is a large figure with bulky, strong arms but is mentally disabled. One thing constant throughout this story is Lennie always forgetting what George tells him. They hope to one day attain the dream of settling down on their own piece of land. Lennie's part of the dream is merely to tend and pet rabbits on the farm, as he loves touching soft animals. This dream is one of Lennie's favorite stories, which George continuously retells. Although Lennie likes to pet supple things, he always accidentally kills because he is unable to control his strength. This is shown at the beginning of the book when George gets angry at Lennie for carrying a dead mouse around in his hand.

The pair are eventually hired at a farm to earn some money, and are confronted by Curley. Curley is a small, belligerent man who is also the boss’s son and has a strong disliking for larger men. He immediately begins to target Lennie and Lennie is afraid by his advances. Curley’s wife is also introduced. They also meet Candy, an elderly ranch handyman with one hand and a loyal dog. There’s also Slim, an intelligent and gentle jerkline-skinner whose dog has recently had a litter of puppies. Another character who has some interaction with Lennie is Crooks, he is the only one who lives in the barn and takes care of the stables.

As George and Lennie dream about owning their own ranch with various crops and animals, they fall short in terms of money because the land they were planning to buy costs $600. However, their dreams leap toward reality when Candy offers to pitch in $350 in return for being able to leave with them. If George and Lennie are able to work till the end of the month, they will each get paid $50 and have enough to afford it.

In this rather compact book, the author displays George’s and Lennie’s friendship in a beautiful way and demonstrates that no friendship is perfect. The theme throughout this book is about dreams and independence. George hopes to have his own homestead and be his own boss, and Lennie wants to be with him as well as being able to keep soft things such as rabbits. Another topic is prejudice, as Crooks faced some racism throughout the story from the other workers and Curley’s wife.

Overall, I would say this book holds up to its reputation. It is filled with a great story and an obscene amount of detail. The author’s writing style is distinguishable and I enjoyed the historical setting. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.

Check out Of mice and men from NBPL!