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The description of the bunkhouse reveals the difficuties of ranch life, in this extract. Steinbeck makes the ranchmen's bunkhouse seem very boring and bland, as the reader learns that "the bunk house was long, rectangular building...the walls were whitewashed." The word "whitewashed" immediately reveals the quality of life of the ranchmen as this word indicates the ever-lasting boredom and the way the surrounding is "whitewashed" makes the men's life seem a bit like a curse because the word "whitewashed" states that the boss has spent very little money on the ranchmen and hasn't really thought about making the bunkhouse look mroe welcoming ,more like a home. This reflects on the fact that ranch men didn't have anything interesting in life just like their colourless walls. This again links to 1930's America where ranchmen saw jobs as almost a blessing as they were so desperate to get jobs and felt lucky to have jobs because of the drought which caused men to migrate to California to find jobs. As well as the way "over each bunk there was nailed an apple box"makes this "bunk house" seem more like a jail than a place to live because everything was uniform and we know this through the use of the word "each," this also explains that ranchmen weren't seen as individuals their likes and dislikes weren't taken into consideration and they were almost treated like animals, because animals didn't choose the way they wanted their stables to look or anything. This links to the power hierarchy as ranchmen were low on the power hierarchy and therefore were more like animals.
Another way this extract reveals the difficulties of ranch life is through the indication of the "small, square windows." This suggests that only small amount of light was allowed into the bunk house, this limitation states that the men had very little hope, as light symbolises hope and the restriction of light signifies the restrcition of any hope of fulfilling their American Dream. This is further supported through the description of the morning sunshine which is meant to be peaceful and beautiful btu in this ranch house, the sun "threw a bright dust-laden bar through one of the side windows." The word "threw" is almost aggresive and suggests that again light was being restricted. This word also states that even though the ranchmen didn't want to have unnecessary hope, the sun just "threw" hope. This foreshadows the hope Lennie and George get in Chapter 3 when Candy offers "three hunderd an' fifty bucks" to buy some land and fulfill their American Dream. This hope grows and when the men are about to fulfill their dream, , Lennie kills Curley's wife and everything gets ruined. This unnecessary hope lets all three men down.
Another way this extract reveals the difficulty of ranchlife is through the living conditions and the description of the damages ranch life has dnoe to many ranchmen. Candy has been permanently damaged likewise Crooks. Out of Candy's "sleeve came a round stick-like wrist, but no hand." While working on the ranch Candy has lost an arm and even though likewise his name he was a sweet person ,his life was put into misery because even ranchmen who were fully fit and healthy were treated like animals and has to work extremely hard, but since Candy didn't have an arm ,he was the swamper. Candy was seen as someone useless and therefore given the worst job of all, cleaning the bunk houses and he was on the lowest section of the power hierarchy as a result of being old and having a physical disability. Additionally the harsh living conditions in the ranches made life even mroe difficult for the ranch men. The only entertainment for the ranch men was either playing card, gambling using horseshoes or going to the "cathouse". In this extract we learn that "in the middle of the room stood a big quare table littered with plaing cards." This was the only entertainment ranchmen got together and most of the time ranchmen played "solitaire" which was a one man game, just like their life where they lived alone, worked alone, travelled alone, ate alone and died alone. The men had no other possessions then their essentials in the bunk house. The word "bunk house" itself reinfroces the fact that the ranch men lived in a place which was more like a jail than a home because a home is a place of warmth, happiness and love whereas a "house" was more distant.
As well as the lack of hygiene in this bunk house reveals the difficulties of ranch life. The reader is confronted with the disturbing,uncomfortable and harsh reality of the ranch men who didn't wash hands or cared about hygiene much as they saw the "blacksmith" who "used to wash his hands even after he ate" as a "guy" who was "as clean...as you want to meet". The word "even" clearly states that the ranchmen didn't wash their hands before or after eating. This reveals the difficulties of ranchlife as this may be hinting the lack of water supply or lack of knowledge of the importance of hygiene. Though, at this moment Steinbeck reveals the fact that some men were different to others, even though bosses and people higher in th epower hierarchy didn't notice as George is fairly hygienic because he argues with Candy, "what the hell kind of bed you giving us...we don't want no pant rabbits". The words "pant rabbits" states that George doesn't want Lennie or himself to get any lices that could affect their genital areas because this would restrict them from going to work. Even then, George still cares about their job and work in order to fufill his American DreamThis would have been very normal in 1930's as men were so grateful to even have a job so they didn't really care about anything else. This reflects to chapter one where Lennie "drank from the suface of the green pool." The word "green" suggests that the pool was covered in algae and this again explains to the audience how careless men were about hygiene.This would be regarded unacceptable in today's society as the knowledge of hygiene and its importance has grown.However, immediately Steinbeck uses George to show that not all men were the same as George did think that the water "looks kinda scummy" and therefore he wasn't "sure it's good water".