Of Mice and Men by Jonh

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is set in the state of California during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Of Mice and Men is influenced by John Steinbeck’s own experiences of working on the ranches in the Salinas Valley, California. Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California in 1902 into a wealthy family but his interest was in the lives of the labourers who worked on the farms around
California. Steinbeck wrote a number of novels about poor people who worked on the land and dreamed of a better life and he himself worked on a number of ranches around Salinas.
Of Mice and Men was Steinbeck’s first big success as a writer.

Two migrant field workers in California during the Great Depression – George Milton, an intelligent and cynical man; and Lennie Small, an ironically named man of large stature and immense strength but limited mental abilities – come to a ranch near Soledad southeast of Salinas, California to "work up a stake". They hope to one day attain their shared dream of settling down on their own piece of land. Lennie's part of the dream, which he never tires of hearing George describe, is merely to tend to soft rabbits on the farm. George protects Lennie at the beginning by telling him that if Lennie gets into trouble George won't let him "tend them rabbits"; they are fleeing from their previous employment in Weed where they were run out of town after Lennie's love of stroking soft things resulted in an accusation of attempted rape when he touched a young woman's dress. In the novel this foreshadows as Lennie kills his pet mouse, a puppy, and Curley’s wife by stroking them too roughly

At the ranch, the dream appears to move closer to reality. Candy, the aged, one-handed ranch-hand, even offers to pitch in with Lennie and George so they can buy the farm by the end of the month. The dream crashes when Lennie accidentally kills the young and attractive wife of Curley, the ranch owner's son, while trying to stroke her hair. A lynch mob led by...