In line with the central theme "The American Dream" in the 2016 central high school graduation exams in North Rhine-Westphalia, John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" depicts the struggle between migrant workers, a lonely woman, and ranch hands with a ranch owner and his son in America during the Great Depression of the 1930s. This struggle becomes a symbol of the conflict with a social structure that views workers as replaceable objects rather than as valuable human beings. The discovery and preservation of their dignity in the face of overwhelmingly dehumanizing forces becomes a critical challenge. Steinbeck has not only written an American drama tied to a specific place and time in history; "Of Mice and Men" is a drama about humanity in all places and for all times. Our Diesterweg edition.