Does Steinbeck’s picture of life on the ranch hold any hope for the future, or is it pessimistic?
I think that Steinbeck’s picture of life on the ranch was mainly pessimistic, but it still held a little hope.
The story took place in the 1930s, during the Great Depression. The economic situation was in a terrible state. The unemployment problem was so serious. Migrant workers from all over America came to California. They believed that they could get their own piece of land and settle down there quite well eventually.
Steinbeck created the ranch with people, from different backgrounds, holding different positions, having different attitudes and dreams.
George and Lennie, the main characters, traveled everywhere together. Lennie, who was mentally disabled, often depended on George to get him out of trouble. Sometimes George complained about Lennie, “God a’ mighty, if I was alone I could have lived so easy. I could go get a job an’ work, an’ no trouble. No mess at all….” (p.28)At first, it seemed to be a one-sided scenario that George was the wiser one and he had to look after Lennie. However, if you look at it in another way, it was a gloomy picture. In fact, George was so lonely that he needed Lennie as his companion and he wanted to look after him. Nevertheless, they shared the same dream – having a little house and a couple of acres, doing what they liked and living a decent life. It seemed that their dream was a realistic one and they were so near to achieving it.
The future of Candy and Crooks was very pessimistic as they were exploited so badly at the ranch. They were both disabled. Candy was old and Crooks was black. In general, the ranch was meant to be an efficient workplace and that made it a harsh place for those who had to work there. People worked there must be very strong both physically and mentally. Otherwise, they were regarded as useless. Candy, who worked as a swamper, once owned a dog. However, it was quite old and was considered as useless. So, one of the workers, Carlson, insisted on shooting it. Also, on the ranch, there lived a female dog, named Lulu, who had a number of puppies. As the living condition was so bad, Lulu simply could not have enough to feed her babies. Slim, one of the workers on the ranch, felt so bitter for Lulu and the puppies. In his desperation, Slim drowned some of the puppies. Although it broke Slim and many peoples' hearts, it was better than leaving the puppies starving to death. That’s why Candy feared the same thing would happen unto him when he became even older and not able to do anymore hard work. I think Steinbeck wanted to tell us that old people were not treated terribly in those days. The government then was neither civilized nor affluent enough to take care of the old and give those pensions and social securities. Consequently, many were left to die in cold or hunger. Crooks’ future seemed even more pessimistic as he was isolated from the others. He lived on his own, while the others lived in the bunkhouse together, and went out together at night. Racial injustice was so serious back then. Candy and Crooks both had given up on their dreams, until they met George and Lennie. They wanted to join George and Lennie and go for their dreams once again. Yet soon they were brought back to the cruel reality because of their backgrounds and the harsh environment in the ranch.
