In Of Mice and Men, how does Steinbeck use the ranch to explore the problems in American society?

In the novel, Steinbeck uses the microcosm of a small ranch in Salinas to show some of the problems American society was grappling with in the 1930s. One aspect of this is prejudice – racism, sexism, ageism, ableism – you name it, it's taking place on the ranch. From Candy's old age to Lennie's slowness to Crook's skin color, Steinbeck explores them all on the small ranch. He also looks at how the prejudices interact with one another. Suffering from prejudice can band folks together, such as when George and Lennie invite Candy to join them in saving up to buy a ranch of their own. However, it can also make them lash out at one another, such as when Curley's wife, deprived of her dreams and stuck in a small, cramped life, lashes out at Crooks, who is in the same position, saying,

" 'Well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain't even funny.' "

Another problem, related to the one above and equally prevalent on the ranch is the futility of the American Dream. All of the characters have something they want out of life: George and Lennie's ranch, Curley's wife's show business career, Crook's desire for equal treatment. They will never achieve these dreams; the work they do towards them and the longing is futile. As George says in chapter 1,

"Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place. They come to a ranch an' work up a stake and then they go inta town and blow their stake, and the first thing you know they're poundin' their tail on some other ranch. They ain't got nothing to look ahead to."

The people this ranch are without hope, demonstrating the lonely underbelly of America. Ranch hands like we see here represent all the working people who are unable to fulfill the promise of the American Dream.