can you help me out with of mice and men

Question

The old man tells George and Lennie about a blacksmith who used to work at the ranch and suddenly quit. What does the old man’s story seem to suggest about the men who work on these ranches?

Answer 1

On the surface, the blacksmith left because of "graybacks" (meaning lice or bedbugs) in his bed, which is why there is a can of spray next to the bed, which is now George's bed.

 

But this is an allegory or symbol of the way things are in terms of race relations on the ranch--"gray" is what happens when black and white come together, and it is something that needs to be cleaned up or gotten rid of, whether it's a spray against the bugs or by the people there realizing that blacks and whites should keep to themselves, and that there is an unspoken order of things: whites at the top, blacks at the bottom.

Answer 2

There is a problem on the ranch that makes people leave.  The problem is the owner's wife that lives on the ranch.