“Ranch hand” or “Cowboy”

We have all heard the old legends or read the books and even watched the films of historical cowboys. You know, the Clint Eastwood and “well do ya feel lucky...”

I understand that ranch hands, like the ones from the famous books by John Steinbeck, are the modern cowboys? Cowboys were not real; they are a certain stereotype. A stereotype is a generalisation of a certain race, culture or creed. For example “all this certain race are say, thieves or all this race will dislike any one from this race.” A cowboy’s stereotype is a hero. He “upholds the law” by bending it and “protects the innocent” by killing the bad. They are lonely travellers but survive by doing good and by trying to create a better person of himself. A cowboy has a strong will power to endure. They all have dreams but the main factor about them is they seem not to have any feelings. A dream is another term for wants, needs and longings. Every one has dreams, even these cowboy heroes poses dreams. They are constantly in the cold with stone valiant personalities and it is as if they have been hardened by their own countless experiences. If the hero/cowboy does have a sidekick then the sidekicks are mostly juvenile and have not had many experiences. So because of this the sidekick respects the cowboy and looks upon the hero as a father figure. Yet also a friend simultaneously, and they are portrayed as if they were feeble minded.

A Ranch hand is an American 1930s “typical working man”. Ranch hands tend to have dreams; this is what they require to hold on to, to survive. “Tell im about the rabbits George....”. Also in America, in the time of the early 1930’s there was the myth going around of the “American Dream”. The “American dream” is an idea, an idea that consists of “America, the grate country of opportunities and dreams”. This means that if your were to go to the country you would be able to make your dreams come true. This is another case that Stinebeck is tying to argue against. By portraying the harsh realities of the “all American dream” using his books as his voice to the public.

Ranch hands travel alone and if they travel together then they either have an unbreakable companionship. “I got you to look after me, an you got me to look after you.” or one has decided that he has to dedicate the remainder of his life to look after the other member. Like the pair “George and Lennie” from John Steinbecks “Of mice and men.”

This is a preview of the whole essay

Life on the ranch was not easy with all the laborious duties for very minute pay. The bosses of the lands became wealthy through the sweat of the labourers (the ranch hands). The living conditions were very poor, sometimes “ten to fifteen men sleeping in the same bunkhouse”. A bunkhouse was a small shed like chamber filled with bunk beds, as described by John Steinbeck in “of mice and men”.

“The bunk-house was a long, rectangular building. Inside, the walls were whitewashed and the floor unpainted.” I feel it is important to look at the living conditions of the ranch hands to try to understand what they are like, and accustomed to. I consider that to try to paint a representation of what a person is like you have to look at their possessions.

“And in these shelves were loaded with little articles, soap and talcum powder, razors and those Western magazines...” Notice how he describes all of the belongings of the occupant of the bunk, in particular detail. He mentions stuff like soap and razors to the reader; this is to maybe show how the ranch hands are trying their greatest to show the world that they aren’t just some ranch hand scruffs. To portray that they are real people “they’re not just workers and do have a life off the fields”. He mentions “western magazines” “...ranch men love to read and scoff at and secretly believe.” This is a strong element Steinbeck is trying to make. What I consider he is trying to say is how the ranch hands believe and also fantasise about being in the shoes of a western cowboy hero. Maybe he is trying to say how the ranch hands are cowboys, but I will come back to this point later.

“And there were medicines on the shelves, and little vials, combs; and, from nails on the box sides, a few neckties.” See there again, he mentions things like medicines, combs and neckties. This is also trying to say how they try to restrain them selves from deteriorating physically as well as mentally. Also how they at least try to make them selves look respectable and orderly. Also by mentioning minor everyday things to us, they appear important to the ranch hands.

To relax the men either played cards with each other or have a night on the town to spend their hard-earned cash or they would go to the brothel. These activities are similar to of which cowboys used to carry out for pleasure.

Steinbecks characters fit into the mould of being a cowboy but the most accurate character, which could pass as a cowboy, would have to be slim. “The door opened and a tall, stooped-shouldered old man came in.” This is when he is first introduced to George, lennie and the reader. “He was dressed in blue jeans and carried a big push-broom in his left hand.” This is a classic description of a cowboy the blue jeans and the way he stands and also how he carries his broom like it is his gun. You could also say that Slim talks like a cowboy “He was sore as hell when you wasn’t here to go out this morning.” Slim also has a lot of respect from the ranch hands and has a higher statures. I conclude that the hero of the book is Slim even though George and Lennie are the foremost characters. I think this because he is always tends to be around when important things are going on in the book. Also he tends to have had the most hands on experience when it comes down to virtually anything.

As I was saying earlier about how the ranch hands enjoyed reading western books and almost believed in them. This is another dream that is exposed by Stinebeck. The ranch hands all dream about the stories wishing they were the cowboys wishing they had “nothing to care for”, “no more hard work” and no one would “be messing with em” as they were cowboys.

Steinbeck has invented his own stereo type of the ranch hands in some ways romanticising or glamorising them to show or compare the new age cowboys which were given the Hollywood treatment to be the real cowboys of the present. America has not got a long history so maybe he wanted to show that America’s history is not in the Hollywood cowboys and Indian gun fights, it lies in the American dream and the people itself. It lies in their hard work and bloodshed to make the country what it is now. Not trying to make up a history, but he’s asking to look at the one they already have.

All of Steinbeck’s characters fall into the cast of this stereotype but yet are still individual. John created them ideally, otherwise if he didn’t create them like this; he would not have been able to make his world seem so genuine and undeniable to life.

I feel that Steinbeck was trying to underline a piece of America history, and put though his message to the reader. He did this because he is a socialist writer and believes strongly about equal opportunities. So if people feel that the history of America lies in John Steinbeck’s books, they might think about the present and try to make changes to the whole system.

So there it is the cowboys and ranch hands explained they are both very similar stereotypes, yet they do have their differences. The difference is that ranch hands are the real historical cowboys. But due to the ignorance of the common American the ranch hands want to become more like the Hollywood cowboys. Also there’s the fact that the ranch hands in “of Mice and Men” (George and Lennie) do not achieve their dreams yet cowboy stories always have a “good ending”. By making this contrast Stinebeck can demonstrate that the “American dream” is unattainable and a deceiving idea.