George and Lennie are day laborers together on a ranch. Lennie is a clumsy worker who is protected and cared for by his friend George. Both dream of one day owning a ranch together—and thus survive the hardships of work. One day, a tragedy occurs that puts their friendship to the test. Steinbeck chose a direct and dialogue-heavy style. He deliberately structured the novella with a view to later dramatization. The dialogue passages are mostly in working-class slang. This is an unabridged and unedited edition in the original language, with translations of difficult words at the bottom of each page, an afterword, and a bibliography.