Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck) Summary

Set in Depression-era California, the story follows two migrant ranch hands, George Milton and Lennie Small, chasing work and a fragile vision of independence.George is sharp, wary, and always calculating the next risk; Lennie is physically powerful, mentally vulnerable, and drawn to “soft” things he can’t handle safely.Their shared dream is simple: earn enough to buy a small place of their own, grow food, and live without answering to anyone.The ranch they land on is a pressure cooker: loneliness, suspicion, and hierarchy turn ordinary days into traps.