http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/Steinbeck/mice.html
and
George and Lennie’s Farm
The farm that George constantly describes to Lennie, those few acres of land on which they will grow their own food and tend their own livestock, is one of the most powerful symbols in the book. It seduces not only the other characters but also the reader, who, like the men, wants to believe in the possibility of the free, idyllic life it promises. Candy is immediately drawn in by the dream, and even the cynical Crooks hopes that Lennie and George will let him live there too. A paradise for men who want to be masters of their own lives, the farm represents the possibility of freedom, self-reliance, and protection from the cruelties of the world.