Of Mice of Men is first and foremost a book of friendship and of a deep, meningful attachment of two men. Their friendship is so beautiful and yet so out of ordinary that often they are questioned about the nature of it. Especially George is suspected to be taking advantage of Lennie's situation. "Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy. I just like to know what your interest is" (22). When the boss of the ranch talks that way, George is forced to defend himself: "Why ya think I'm sellin' him out" (22)? The strange nature of their friendship is regarded acceptable only by Slim because he is the only character in the book with a deep understanding and sympathy with regard to those two.
Their friendship is not based on equality, though. It is more Lennie being attached to George than vice versa. Lennie follows George just as a puppy follows his master. To Lennie, George represents his dreams. As for George, his repentance for abusing Lennie's underdevelopped intelligence and manners looks like the driving force behind his acceptance Lennie as a companion. However, at this present stage, their friendship is a mature one for George is no longer an abuser of Lennie's mental situation.
Placelessness was one other striking feeling that I had during my reading of the book. Contrary to the plentiness, resourcefulness and spaciousness immanent in the nature as is painted by Steinbeck, George and Lennie feel not to belong anywhere and their inquest for a place in the world is more than a merely material one. What they look for is actually a place where they could feel their manhood in its most general sense. "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place" (13) George's explanation of the men like him and Lennie tells about their real intention of running after a piece of land: They not only want money or the like, but also a sense of being part of something larger and more enduring and, also, more meaningful. Their foolishness and lack of planning the future are the causes of their actually being nowhere even though they shuttle between different ranches and places.
When Candy defends their dream against Curley's assaults and cries, " I planted crops for damn near ever'body in this state, but they wasn't my crops, and when I harvested 'em, it wasn't non eof my harvest" (76), he emphasises the truth that one must have his own dreams no matter how they look small and trivial. Working for others' dreams and never taking a stake in them make one neither rich nor satisfied. Strong and applicaple common dreams are what man longs for.
Candy and Curley's wishing to join the dreams of George and Lennie indicates that, even the most wretched, most ignored people, when seeing a faint light of hope, are ready to join the band of dreamers and visionaries. From this, one can easily deduce what Steinbeck really means: He means that one strong man and one strong dream can move ignorant and ignored masses for a change; this is how revolutions take place. And Steinbeck, a critic of the American Promise (or Dream) as such, whispers into the ears of the dreamers to come together and build something.
Steinbeck's sense of community and his insistance on the importance of communial life caused many to suspect him of not being a 'decent' family man. FBI always kept a close watch on him, suspecting him of being a 'Red' symphatizer. Of Mice and Men, in some respects, is like, in a smaller scale, his another novel, 'In Dubious Battle.' The difference is, the former is approached from a more local level. George and Lennie are never able to make themselves heard, unlike Mac and Jim. And they fail in the end. Because they lack the technique and equipment to realize something. They are not rigorous at all. So, theirs remain to be a personal and local tragedy. Will anyone question the death of Lennie? Will anyone learn about what has happened in the ranch actually?
They will be fast forgotten; and Steinbeck stands up at this moment and convert their personal plight into an immortal tale of heroism.