Steinbeck’s novel “Of Mice and Men “portrays a simple two-some traveling together causing unintentional mischief. Lennie and George travel together through hard times and refuse to abandon each other despite how tempting it is at times. Several instances throughout the novel employ specific themes however. Such themes include loneliness, the American dream, and friendship. Through each encounter in this novel we see occurrences of these themes in various characters. This novel covers a wide range of subjects through its diverse yet simple characters. To begin with, loneliness is a thought often encountered throughout this novel. Loneliness is something that even a simpleton such as Lennie can be fearful of. Lennie does not want to lose George and refuses to consider the possibility of George dying and leaving Lennie by himself. Other characters also experience the loneliness factor, Crooks the black stable boy, and Curley’s wife are examples. Crooks personally was lonely all the time so he dove into his personal collection of books, he was lonely due to the fact that he was the only negro on the ranch and was socially rejected because of his skin color. Curley’s wife was lonely due to the fact that she married someone she didn’t even like, whom is often not around her anyways. This leads Curley’s wife to flirt around the ranch trying to get guys to talk to her due to the immense loneliness of her marriage. Secondly, the American dream is something that nearly all farmers sought after in the early 1900’s. Lennie and George share a simple dream; they wish to save up enough money to buy a ranch with a chickens, vegetables and rabbits, yet sadly due to Lennie, George cannot obtain this. This dream is a common dream to a degree among other American migrant workers in the time period. The American dream is one to earn property, land, and to become financially stable. Slim said he’s seen many farmers come through and go but he’s never seen one fulfill the dream. Candy joins up with George and Lennie to help them complete the dream in order for him to gain some personal fulfillment and happiness out of the ordeal as well. The American dream is a highly sought after prize for farmers, yet it is a rare occurrence that it is achieved. Friendship