How far would you go to keep a promise? John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men depicts what happens when passion and kindness are pitted with struggle and desperation. The compassion of one of the main characters bound by a promise he made to his friend’s aunt takes his feelings of responsibility and obligation to a shocking end. Of Mice and Men, a work of  historical fiction, is set in the time of the Great Depression when people were escaping the Dust Bowl and going to California to find work. In the story, two men George and Lennie are desperate for work after getting fired because of Lennie’s bizarre behavior. Their story unfolds on a ranch during times of segregation, sexism and inequality. Steinbeck artfully develops archetypes to reveal what it was really like during these times.  This was an interesting book with many odd characters involved in a network of interactions with one another. .I would recommend the reading age for this book to be fourteen to be able to understand the situations in this book and appreciate it for the work of art it is.

This book has been read by generations of high school freshman and should continue to be read in schools because it opens high school students up to character development and historical significance with surprising plot development. It makes you think and always wonder what is going to come next. I thought at some points it was hard to keep reading because it got boring because of the extensive detail. I felt a strong connection to all the characters in the story because they were all relatable. I thought that the historical fiction could be boring at times but at other times it was exciting mostly because of the wide variety of characters and how Steinbeck develops them to fit the desperate times. I thought his writing style was a simple way of writing using a lot of dialogue and interaction between characters. For instance, when Crooks says “Cause I’m black. They play cards in there, but I can’t play because I’m black. They say I stink  well I tell you, all of you stink to me.”(Steinbeck 68). One of the biggest surprises of the story that made the book, was the ending. George took care of Lennie throughout the whole book but how far he took this really surprised me at the end. I thought most if not all of the chapters ended with a cliffhanger and that’s what made the book so much fun to read because you would never anticipate what would  happen next. Steinbeck’s detailed description made it boring at times but overall the book was a very well written and believable story. I would recommend this book to history buffs that like learning about the Depression.