Sounds of the Great Depressions

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck tells the tale of two migrant workers during the Great Depression. Work was scarce, but Lennie and George traveled ranch to ranch in hopes of purchasing land. Their dream was to own their own land, live off it, and have animals (especially rabbits) for Lennie to tend to.
They arrived at Curly's father's ranch in hopes of getting work. Both men are in search of their American Dream, which appears only just out of reach. However, with Lennie's mental disability and the past not so far behind, the two men have a struggle; and it only takes one night for their lives to change.

I revisited this novel because I am teaching it for my Sophomore American Literature class. I am not a John Steinbeck fan. He has a lot of overly done description, in my opinion, and I just can't connect with the characters or the setting on any of his novels; then I reread this one.
Lennie is such a likeable character. You know off the bat he has a mental illness, but he is so loving, so caring, and all he wants is something soft to touch. He gets in his own way, and it is because of his past run in that he and George  continue to look for work. Lennie seems to not fit into this society, and it almost seems like he never will be able to blend in. In the end, George knows this in his heart, and he makes a decision that could be seen as questionable. It really does play with the reader because you wonder "should I be okay with this?", and "was there another way"?
This novel has so much emotion embedded in it that it's hard to read and not think about. It does a great job of showing readers the view of the Great Depression in the 30s; people were forced to work odd jobs in order to just make a few bucks. And it wasn't easy work. But you can see how the characters relate to each other; how the other migrant workers have their quirks, but they are, overall, a good bunch of people who look out for each other.

It really goes to show you the difference between now and the past. Nowadays odd jobs are known as minimum wage, and you can't trust a person father than you can throw them. 
After revisiting this novel I did change my mind. Instead of disliking it because it was a Steinbeck novel, I found myself actually enjoying it. I liked it because it made you feel emotions for the characters; it made you sad, or angry. Any book that gets an emotional reaction is usually a good one for me. It's a quick read, literally I finished the book in a day, and it is a thought provoking one. Chances are anyone who has read it has made their mind up about the content and the likeability of the novel, so reading this won't make or break anyone's opinion. But it is a book that shows friendship, companionship, and the overall moral that life is hard, but sometimes doing the "right thing" is harder.