Of Mice and Men- Settings

Key Settings in Of Mice and Men.

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  • Created by: Sonia
  • Created on: 19-05-13 19:57

Bunkhouse

1) Steinbeck uses the bunkhouse to portray the full extent of the solitary lives of men on the ranch. => reminder of the circle of life and how these itinerant workers move around.

2) The key themes of fate and lonliness are expressed through the way in which, despite the close quaters the men live in, each man is solitary.

3) The temporary dark structure of the bunkhouse is used as a symbol to show that nothing can be planned for in times of depression.

Lots of tension in bunkhouse : --- Fight scene. Candy and his dog.

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Crook's room

1) Crook's room being situated at the end of the barn also relates to his current position on the social ladder; he is simply at the bottom end.

2) Steinbeck creates a sense of irony at the fact Crook's is left to himself.

Unlike the other workers, his room is his home and is described in quit some detail.

Lennie is not afraid to enter this room inspite of Crook's obvious discomfort, however Candy is very aware of this before he enters.

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Barn

1) The barn is used to reveal the characters true natures and it is a segregated place from the bunkhouse eg. Curley's wife and her true nature and beauty is explored by Steinbeck in the novel. It is a place of isolation where we see everyone naturally.

2) It is a turning point in the novel, we see the death of Curley's wife, provides this place of refuge for events to take place.

3) The Barn is place where Steinbeck can just focus on the characters; time is paused in the barn. Purely isolated.

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Clearing

1) The clearing is used as a framing device, to show how much has changed.

2) Towards the end the intial oasis of tranquilty that is described at the beginning is killed e.g the heron swallowing the water snake.

By ending the novel here, Steinbeck brings the action of the book in a full circle => Gives a feeling of completeness ironic becuase the characters dreams remain incomplete.

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