How does Steinbeck present the life of an itinerant worker at the beginning of the novel?
Steinbeck begins his novel by creating the setting. He paints a beautiful image of a peaceful environment where Lennie and George live in. This suggests an ironic tone to their lives as it is not quite as peaceful and harmonic as the setting. Their lives is quite the opposite, as they work hard and their only form of entertainment is starting fights, drinking heartly and going to cathouses. Readers are introduced to the lives of itinerant workers in America during the Great Depression.
Steinbeck uses setting to describe itinerant workers’ lives such as “small square windows” - a symbolism of the prison-like working conditions of a farmhand worker. Also, it portrays the small constricted view of the outside world that these itinerant workers had. They did not have any privileges and did not afford to have any luxury. It could be argued that their bosses had total control over the itinerant workers.
They were confined to have a simple life such as displayed when it is said “Tell ya what - know what he done Christmas? Brang a gallon of whisky right in here and says, Drink hearty, boys. Christmas comes but once a year.” This shows their simplicity and how they are easily pleased and impressed due to their low expectations. Although, at the mercy of their bosses, itinerant workers were victims of exploitation of work such as being overworked and maltreated as seen in this quote “The boss gives him hell when he’s mad”. This suggests the workers had to keep the boss satisfied.
African-American itinerant workers are mentioned at the beginning of the book and the frequent use of the word, now an explicitly racist word “nigger” is heavily used to emphasise the attitude society had to african-americans. The first reference to it is in the quote “Ya see the stable buck’s a nigger.” We are hinted to the idea of “niggers” being treated worse than men such as Lennie and George, because of their skin colour and the old belief of african-americans being less “worthy”.
Steinbeck uses setting to describe itinerant workers’ lives such as “small square windows” - a symbolism of the prison-like working conditions of a farmhand worker. Also, it portrays the small constricted view of the outside world that these itinerant workers had. They did not have any privileges and did not afford to have any luxury. It could be argued that their bosses had total control over the itinerant workers.
They were confined to have a simple life such as displayed when it is said “Tell ya what - know what he done Christmas? Brang a gallon of whisky right in here and says, Drink hearty, boys. Christmas comes but once a year.” This shows their simplicity and how they are easily pleased and impressed due to their low expectations. Although, at the mercy of their bosses, itinerant workers were victims of exploitation of work such as being overworked and maltreated as seen in this quote “The boss gives him hell when he’s mad”. This suggests the workers had to keep the boss satisfied.
African-American itinerant workers are mentioned at the beginning of the book and the frequent use of the word, now an explicitly racist word “nigger” is heavily used to emphasise the attitude society had to african-americans. The first reference to it is in the quote “Ya see the stable buck’s a nigger.” We are hinted to the idea of “niggers” being treated worse than men such as Lennie and George, because of their skin colour and the old belief of african-americans being less “worthy”.