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In Of Mice and Men, how does Steinbeck present the brutality of life on a ranch at the time the novella is set?

Steinbeck presents the brutality of ranch life in several ways:


We witness at the beginning of the novella how George maneuvers the timing of their arrival at the ranch so that he and Lenny can miss some work. From this, we know from the start that the men endure long, exhausting hours in the fields. Steinbeck also describes the bunkhouse itself in great detail so that we can envision how harsh the living is for the men: they get a bunk, a shelf made of a crate, a wood burning stove for heat. The men have no privacy and no luxuries.  


Curley, the owner's son, is presented as a bully who the men have to cater to. George is forced to worry about him: George knows that if Curley picks a fight with Lenny, it won't go well for them. Curley can enter the bunkhouse when he wants to, and he treats the men rudely. The ranch is a place of fear and danger to George, who constantly coaches Lennie on what to say and do and what not to say and do. 


The aging Candy and his old dog also reflect the harshness of life at the ranch. Candy has little choice, given the way he lives, but to let his dog be shot when it gets too old, but we know he sees in this shooting the brutal way he will be cast off when he too becomes useless. In fact, he says he wishes he could be shot, as he thinks it would be better than what is ahead of him when he can no longer work.


The dream George weaves of owning a farm with Lenny, and the two of them living off "the fat of the land" highlights the brutality of life on the ranch. What George and Lenny dream of as virtual paradise is a simple, ordinary existence: they won't have to work brutally long days, they can take a day off if they want to, they won't have to tolerate the presence of people they don't like, they will have a place to call home. Their longing for this ordinary life, and the way it captures the imagination of characters like Crooks and Candy, shows how harsh their lives are in contrast. 

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