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 Claustrophobic – Steinbeck uses this to create tension e.g. The shooting of Candy’s dog  “He rippled the edge of the deck nervously, and the little snapping noise drew the eyes of all the men in the room.” p.49  Basic – used to show the poverty and the hardship that the men endure, stripped of all home-comforts  “Over each bunk there was nailed an apple box..” p.19

 Lack of privacy – Curley walks in and out of the bunkhouse even though his living quarters are elsewhere – his intrusion leads to fight with Lennie as the environment makes it impossible to keep Lennie and Curley apart:  “Curley lashed his body round”By Christ, he’s gotta talk when he’s spoke to.” p.27  Living in close proximity also begins to offer the hope of a better community. We see this when Candy wants to join in the dream

 Crooks lives in the harness room because he is an outcast simply because of his colour – he literally lives with the animals and perhaps the “harness” is itself symbolic of his treatment here.  It offers him privacy but at the cost of isolation “I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain’t wanted in my room.” p.68 We see how defensive he has become in this quotation.

 It is no coincidence that Steinbeck shows each character abusing the little power that they have in this room as it is a symbol of a divisive and desperate society:  Curley’s wife abuses her sexual power over Crooks  Crooks uses his intelligence to threaten Lennie with loneliness  Even Lennie uses his physical power to threaten Crooks in this scene

 Steinbeck uses the barn to create a sense of anticipation at the end of the novel. “...they stamped their feet and they bit the wood of the mangers and rattled the halter chains.” p.83  He describes an almost idyllic scene and contrasts it with Lennie’s misery “The afternoon sun sliced in through the cracks of the barn walls.” p.83

 Lennie and Curley’s wife are brought together here because they do not fit in with the men “She knelt in the hay beside him.” p.85  The barn adds a philosophical tone to the end of the book – there is a real sense of transience, lives passing in and out of existence, towards the end of the novel “A pigeon flew in through the open hay door and circled and flew out again.” p.91

 Shows us the nature of the relationship between George and Lennie – there is a sense of these two sticking together in a big, open world.  Hints at a disaster later in the novel – George and Lennie agree it as a safe place  Creates a sense of anticipation at the beginning which is developed to show life’s cruelty at the end “A silent head and beak lanced down and plucked it out by the head, and the beak swallowed the little snake.” p.98