Is a bunkhouse in Of Mice and Men a homey place? Explain why or why not.

The
bunkhouse is not a homey place. It is described, in , as "a long, rectangular
building." Inside, the walls are "whitewashed and the floor (is) unpainted." The
windows are "small," implying that not much light gets in from the outside, and there
are "eight bunks" against the walls, three of them showing their "burlap
ticking." The "burlap ticking" will be a rough, coarse, cheap fabric and not very
comfortable to sleep on. The "whitewashed" walls, the "small" windows and
the "unpainted" floor altogether convey an impression of a place which is cold, dark
and inhospitable.

In the middle of the room there is a table, but around the
table there are only "boxes" to serve as chairs. There are also in the bunkhouse
"flies" shooting back and forth "like rushing stars." Whenis inspecting the
bunkhouse he finds "a small yellow can" which says on the label, "positively
kills lice, roaches and other scourges." The implication is that the bunkhouse is infested
with such pests as "lice" and "roaches" and thus certainly not
homey.

It makes perfect sense that the bunkhouse is not a homey place because
it reflects the status of the itinerant workers who stay there. Lots of workers at this time had
to travel far to find work, because of the Great Depression and because of dust storms which had
made much arable land across America unworkable. Often the jobs on the ranches they did find
work at were seasonal, temporary, or otherwise unreliable. Thus many workers would pass through
bunkhouses like these, and few would have cause to settle for very long.