Of Mice and Men is about a romance, just without any sex. George and Lennie love each other, in a brotherly sort of way. They'd do anything for each other. The core of this novel is in how this connection swerves about when in conflict with authority and community and other people. Lennie is intellectually handicapped. However, Steinbeck packs within him so much emotional detail, we hang onto every word he says. Of Mice and Men is made up of six scenes, each of which are preempted by lovely descriptions of setting: "And scattered about the floor were a number of personal possessions; for, being alone, Crooks could leave his things about, and being a stable buck and a cripple, he was more permanent than the other men, and he had accumulated more possessions than he could carry on his back." These cleverly both absorb us into the scene's location and welcome us rhetorically into the scene. Complex social issues arise: women, men, the social community of laborers, race, heartlessness, and of course, connection. Somewhat dulled by what it has no space for (society's rapid technological progress), as a Californian work of art it still very much works.