Of Mice and Men covers many different themes. It covers how everyone has strengths and weaknesses, the importance of dreams and having hope, the importance of friendship, and it deals a lot with the "cripples" in life, such as the down-trodden and the mentally disabled. .
I think the most important theme of this story is the importance of dreams and hope. Right from the beginning, you see how the characters of George and Lennie have a dream of someday owning their own land. The dream that always starts out "Guy's like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world". Their dream of owning a few acres of land, some chickens and cows, pigeons that fly around the windmill, and rabbits for Lennie to tend, and to "Live off the fatta the lan"." This dream really seems to be becoming a reality as the story goes on, and many other characters see their chance to own a little piece of the dream too, such as Candy and Crooks.
Part of this dream to own their own land includes Lennie's obsession with rabbits. His fantasy of owning and tending rabbits stems from a fascination with soft things. This almost gets him and George into some serious trouble when they were working another ranch up in a town called Weed. Lennie, being curious and fascinated with soft things, grabbed a young girl's dress and tore it, causing her to scream and accuse Lennie of rape. This is why the pair fled to an area near the Salinas River to find work.
George and Lennie really believe that they will be able to get enough money together to by a little piece of land, and their hope attracts Candy, an aging ranch handy-man. Candy knows that he is getting older and after loosing his hand in an accident, he begins to realize that he isn't going to be worth much on the ranch for a whole lot longer. George and Lennie's dream of owning their own farm really appeals to Candy because he thinks he can earn his stay by doing odd jobs such as hoeing, tending the chickens, and doing the dishes, because soon he won't be able to "swamp out the bunkhouses" at the ranch anymore.
