'Of Mice and Men' is set in the ranches of Northern California during the 1930's. The reason why the Author, John Steinbeck wrote this book is because whilst working to support himself through his college career from 1919 to 1926, he did a number of unskilled manual jobs. One being a farm labourer on ranches in North California. It was this experience that influenced Steinbeck to write this novel.

There are three main messages that Steinbeck is portraying in this novel. The first is of the loyalty and friendship which exists between George and Lennie and the rarity of this in 1930's working man's America. The second is of the hostile economic environment of America during this period. Thirdly is of the loneliness and isolation which each character experiences and the dream of a better life. I believe that this is a reflection of Steinbeck's thoughts on the subject of the 'American Dream' and the false promises of the American government at that time.

The novel also shows Steinbeck's pre-occupation with the notion of fantasies. This interest can be found in much of his writing and stems from his interest in ancient heroic stories. One of the main themes of

"Well you keep your place then, nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain't even funny." We are told by Candy that the boss takes his anger out on Crooks even when he is not at fault. As a result of the discrimination against him, Crooks has become an angry and bitter old man.

George and Lennie are the only characters in the book who are not lonely. They have each other and although they may be outsiders because they are not rich they are probably the happiest of the characters because they are the only ones with a solid and trusting friendship.

The character of Curley also shows us that it is not only the poor that live in isolation. Although he is the boss' son and is privileged with wealth and power, he too is a victim. He has entered an unsuccessful marriage and can only respond to this mistake by showing off his 'manliness' in an aggressive way. We see this when he first appears in the book when he instantly threatens Lennie for no apparent reason. This behaviour shows us of his loneliness.

But Candy gets some life back into him when he hears George and Lennie talking about their dream farm. Hearing this gives Candy a reason to live. He would love to join George and Lennie on their farm and tells them that he'll even give them money to finance it. When George agrees to let Candy join them you can tell that Candy is extremely pleased. But with the death of Lennie the dream of the farm dies as well. Candy's dream was stolen from him. He was lonely because he needed human contact but his only friend was his dog, which was killed.

Hopes and dreams are both the fuel and the fire in 'Of Mice and Men'. Steinbeck uses these to thicken the plot and make the reader take more of an interest into the character's outcomes. Loneliness is one of the many underlying themes that is expressed in the novel through many of the characters. Some of the factors of this isolation are age, sexism and racism.

She is also perhaps the saddest person. She married the first man that came along, and chose badly. "Sure I got a husban'. You all seen him. Swell guy, ain't he? Spends all his time sayin' what he's gonna do to guys he don't like, an' he don't like nobody". This quote

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1483
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)