Comparison of The Bunkhouse and Crooks’ Room John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men reflects the lives of migrant workers struggling during the Great Depression of the 1930s. For many migrant workers, California was the place where their dreams of success could be achieved. Unfortunately, instead of gaining the grand life that they had expected, they lived in poor conditions, were excluded and treated as less than human, and life proved to be hard and meaningless. Steinbeck uses few settings to portray the overall tone of his novel; for example, even two single rooms can reveal much about the living conditions of the disadvantaged men who live and work on the ranch. While both the bunkhouse and Crooks’ room are described in detail and set in primitive and unsubstantial living conditions, the Bunkhouse is a lonely room where workers come and go, while Crooks’ room is …show more content…
The men in the Bunkhouse had magazines that painted vivid pictures of wonderful farms and landscapes, giving them inspiration that they could one day fulfill their dreams, even if they had to start from an old, run down shack. Crooks also hoped for a better life, with the books in his room and his memories of once living on a farm, he carried with himself a reality that one day he could live a free and beneficially life. With Crooks’ dream set in place, but seeming so far, even his little place in the barn gave him hope for a new day. The men in the Bunkhouse work hard to be able to achieve their goals, and when times seem hard they have those pictures as a reminder of what their lives could lead up to. Crook’s has the same scenario, even though he cannot associate with others on the topic, he has his books and his conscience to reassure him that there is more to life than his current