This was so sad I probably would've cried if I hadn't known ahead of time how it was going to end. I've heard Of Mice and Men be explored as a commentary on the dualism of each of us having two men (or women) inside of us; one is rational/civilized and the other is physical/primordial. George is the rational man, who is trying to do the right thing, trying to take care of the physical man, but the body has physical needs and is overwhelmed by feelings: fear drives it to do terrible things, after which it feels shame and guilt, but is unable to remember the bigger picture and stop from repeating the same habits again and again. Of course if you apply this analogy to the story then George having to kill Lenny is a pretty dark message, which I wouldn't endorse. But it's an interesting extra lens to view the story through.

This book is really short, and if you haven't read it--and especially if you haven't read anything by John Steinbeck, this is a must read. I love Grapes of Wrath. But whereas that is 500 pages, this is 100 pages. It's so short that you might as well just read it. It's very sad and powerful and deep.