Of Mice and Men Discuss in detail the lives of the itinerant ranch-hands in the novel. Why is the dream farm so important to the novel?

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Matt Molyneux

Discuss in detail the lives of the itinerant ranch-hands in the novel. Why is the “dream farm” so important to the novel?

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is an emotional novel, set in the 1930’s, where two friends try to achieve their dream in the cruel time of the great depression in California, America. The Wall Street crash was a massive set back in American industries, work was made very limited, so the men had to travel from job to job, to make a living.

Lennie Small and George Milton like many men during this unprofitable time in the American economy roam from job to job. Men like these are called itinerant. As George stated, “Guys like us that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world”. This statement is true because these men never have a place called home, because they are always on the move. This also means they have no time to develop a family or friends. Real friendships are hard to come by, because most of the men that work on these ranches are secretive and try to keep their pasts private in case they reveal something that could get them canned (sacked). Meaning if they can’t reveal their history because of fear, they will never be able to make true friends.

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On the ranch George and Lennie spend most of their spare time in the bunk house. Many of the men don’t socialize they just keep themselves private, this also combines with the lack of woman company to create a lonely atmosphere on the ranch. Also the men are caught up in a never ending cycle of doing a month’s physical labour and spending most of their earnings releasing all their frustration at “whore houses”. So many men come to these ranches with this idea that they will work for a couple of months, save up money and get their ...

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