Of Mice and Men is a testament to the predatory nature of man. It is this darker side of the human spirit which has exiled man from the Garden of Eden, now manifesting itself as the American dream. John Steinbeck shows a world doomed to isolation and loneliness, where the only alleviation from ones suffering is to prey on those weaker than oneself. His story is one of a shattered dream, of pain and suffering rather than the promised plan. The backbone of his novel is the simple eight verse poem "To A Mouse". Steinbeck lays flesh upon the bones of this poem about a farmer who upturns the nest of a mouse just before the onset of winter.
             The book opens by a beautiful riverbed in Southern California, mocking Eden with its serenity and beauty. Two men, George and Lenny, are settling down for the night. They are two seemingly ordinary migrant workers during the winter of the depression. George is a wiry quick witted fellow who watches out for Lenny, a large and awkward man who possesses the mind of only a small child. One soon learns that they possess something quite extraordinary. It is a friendship strong enough to weather this harsh world. On a small ranch nearly void of life, it serves as a beacon of hope for the American dream. "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place... With us it ain't like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. We don't have to sit in no bar room blowin' in our jack jus' because we got no place else to go. If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody gives a damn. But not us."
             At the ranch, there is an omnipresent stench of despair and desperation. Each character George and Lenny meet tells a different version of the same story. It is the story of someone who believes he has outlived his usefulness and has no longer has a place in the world. T...