Of mice and men coursework

clue that something not so relaxing is going tohappen.After Lennie and George arrive at the ranch, they are taken to thebunkhouse where they will be living. The beginning of chapter twodescribes the bunkhouse:"Over each bunk there was nailed an apple box with the opening forwardso that it made two shelves for the personal belongings of theoccupant."Now in contrast to the beautiful things that Steinbeck described inchapter one, this is a bit of a change. A harsh environment is createdin this sentence by the fact that there is no real shelves, that theyhave to use apple boxes. This puts forward the thought to the readerthat it is a poor environment that Lennie and George will have to livein. Steinbeck also talks about the whitewashes walls and the"unpainted floor" in this description of the bunkhouse. Steinbeck usesthis contrast to show the harshness of the ranch. Even if thedescription of the ranch on its own did not sound very harsh, afterchapter one where Steinbeck describes such a pleasant place, incontrast the bunk house comes across as very unsympathetic and anuncomfortable place to live in.This contrast goes on throughout chapters one and two creating ahostile environment. There are similarities in chapter one that are inchapter two except taking a unsympathetic form instead of a tranquilone.In chapter one, Lennie and George talk about their dream ranch.Rabbits are mentioned several times, Lennie likes them and wants to"tend them":" 'When we get the coupla acres I can let you tend the rabbits allright. Specially if you can remember as good as that.'Lennie choked with pride. 'I can remember,' he said."Lennie clearly loves the rabbits. He "choked with pride" at thethought of getting to tend them. When we look at this in contrast withthe "rabbits" described in chapter two:"(George) looked into the box shelf and then picked a small yellow canfrom it. 'Say. What the hell's this?''I don't know,' said the old man.'Says "positively kills lice, roaches, and other scourges". What thehell kind of bed you giving us, anyways. We don't want no pantsrabbits."In the calm environment of chapter one, the rabbits talked about areadorable, sweet, fluffy bunny rabbits, and in chapter two they arenasty, pesky little "pants rabbits". "Pants rabbits" are what the menon the ranch call pubic lice. Steinbeck is trying to make the readerrealise that everything outside the ranch that is beautiful, or sweet,or calm, there is something to contrast it with in the uncomfortableenvironment inside the ranch. There is a shadow over everythingoutside the ranch, inside it.Another animal that is contrasted in to something in chapter two ismice. These soft creatures Lennie likes to stroke as well as rabbits.However he often squeezes them too hard and they will die:" Lennie looked sadly up at him. '(The mice) was so little,' he said,apologetically. 'I'd pet 'em and pretty soon they bit my fingers and Ipinched their heads a little and then they were dead-because they wasso little.' "In the world outside of the ranch, Lennie apologetically kills mice.He does not do it on purpose and mice are not really a big thing tokill. It is not really surprising to the reader that Lennie kills themice, they are so small, and he is like a big bear. He just engulfsthe little mice in his "paws" and they die. Lennie does not quiterealise his strength.In chapter two though, it is not mice that Lennie kills. The climaxstarts to build by Lennie killing his puppy that Slim has given to himin the same way that he killed his mice:" Lennie sat in the hay and looked at the little dead puppy...(he)said softly to the puppy, ' Why do you got to get killed? You ain't solittle as mice. I didn't bounce you hard.' "Lennie does not realise his strength. Steinbeck is trying to build upjust how strong Lennie is for the finally killing. He does this bywriting Lennies' part so he says to himself that he did not bounce thepuppy hard when he obviously did he just does not realise it. Thisalso emphasises the harshness of the ranch. Outside it was only amouse that was killed. Inside it is a puppy. The ranch bringsopportunities for Lennie to do bad things.The last thing that Lennie kills just proves the harshness of theranch. Soon after Lennie kills his "pup", Curley's wife, a beautiful,seductive figure comes to talk to Lennie. She flirts with him andbecause he does not realise his strength and is attracted to herbecause her hair is so soft, he squeezes her to hard and gets soscared when she screams he cannot let go." Lennie's big fingers fell stroking her hair.'Don't you muss it up,' she said......She jerked her head sideways, and Lennie's fingers closed on herhair and hung on...Lennie was in a panic."The ranch comes across to be a very dangerous place for Lennie who isnot a "normal" man. Outside the ranch the only real thing for Lennieto accidentally kill is mice, inside there is plenty of opportunities,puppies and soft ladies. This contrast between Killing mice andkilling a woman is so strong is shocks the reader into the hostileenvironment of the ranch.A hostile environment is built up around the ranch by Steinbeck lateron in the book by discrimination. There is very much a hierarchyaround the ranch, with the vulnerable people like Lennie who is not"normal", Crooks who is the black stable buck, and called "the nigger"by the others around the ranch, Candy, an old swamper with one handand even Curley's wife who is the only woman on the ranch. The way theother men treat them is different. The shooting of Candy's old dog isa significant event. This shows how the vulnerable ones are treated onthe ranch, how ruthless the atmosphere is. Also the vulnerable beingson the ranch are maybe cleverer than they are thought to be:"Curley popped his head into the doorway...The dog raised his head,but when Curley jerked out, the grizzled head sank to the flooragain."Steinbeck creates a harsh environment by the tension that is betweenCandy's dog and Curley. Curley is a powerful person on the ranch andCandy's dog a weak one, but Candy's dog is aware of Curley's presence.This has a deep meaning. Candy's dog is about to be shot, but nobodywho odes not want the dog shot can do anything about it. They justhave to go along with it, because nobody would listen to them:" 'Carls right Candy. That old dog ain't no good to himself. I wishtsombody'd shoot me if I got old an' a cripple.'Candy looked helplessly at him, for Slim's opinions were law."Here, it shows that Candy cannot stick up for himself. he is avulnerable person. This is not how he should be treated but this ishow harsh the environment is. Candy just has to except the fact thathis dog is now going to be shot and there is nothing he can do toprevent it. The ranch is not fair. Although Candy is a wise old man,he is discriminated against because he has one hand. In a way, Slim'sspeech from above shows the disrespect for Candy in an unconsciousway. Candy is old and he is a cripple because of his hand. Slim wouldnot say that Candy should be shot, but he is discriminating againstpeople who are old and crippled, just like Candy without realising it.It seems unfair also that the environment is so harsh that one personsopinions are law. But it is just accepted on the ranch.Discrimination is a big part of creation a harsh environment in "OfMice and Men". Crooks the stable buck is also a cripple. And he is a"nigger". The other swampers and workers are not necessarily verballyracist toward him to make him upset, they just take it for granted:"George...sat down. 'Give the stable buck hell?' he asked.'Sure. Ya see the stable buck's a nigger.''Nigger, huh?''Yeah. Nice fella too...'Here, George is talking Candy when he first arrives about Crooks thestable buck. Even though Candy says Crooks is a "Nice fella" theystill call him a "nigger. Today this is considered a bad thing to say,a racist thing. But on the ranch it is totally accepted. Although thisbook was first published in 1937 when that language was maybeaccepted, reading it now it seems even more unpleasant because it isnot accepted now.Crooks also is discriminated against in another way:" Crooks...had his bunk in...a little shed that leaned off the wall ofthe barn."Crooks is not allowed to sleep in the same place as all the other men.This is because he is a "nigger". This is the harsh environment. Hissleeping place is also in worse condition than the others'. It is "alittle shed". This builds a picture in the readers mind of aramshackle, leaning, hut, whereas the bunk house is not brilliant butthe picture built up is not as derelict as Crooks' hut.In conclusion I think that there is two main ways that Steinbeckbuilds up tension on the ranch to make a harsh environment. One iscontrast. Contrast between things that go on outside the ranch andthen similar things that go on inside the ranch, but they just happenworse. The second thing is discrimination and hierarchy around theranch. It makes it seem to me like an unfriendly place to live. Iwould not like to live there. The hostile ness is built up well in thestory and I definitely thought that the ranch was an unsociable harshplace before we started to analyse the story