This novel is set on the Californian Grain Farms in the 1930’s. The town is called Soledad and is four miles south of San Jose. The inspiration for the book probably came from a poem by Robert Burns. The poem was about the plans of mice and men going wrong. The book generally is about all of the migrant workers, all with their own dreams. The main characters George and Lennie go from farm to farm, trying to work up a stake and save enough to buy their own farm. The other characters in the book are also all lonely in their own way. Crooks is black and the blacks are seen as outcasts. Curley’s wife is a woman and therefore insignificant, perhaps thi