Brown, Ellie Mrs.Famulari English 9 March 8th 2024 Of Mice and Men Analysis Of Mice and Men by John Stienbeck takes place on a ranch during The Great Depression. This book is designed to help the reader comprehend how life was in the 1930’s. Stienbecks Wright forces you to comfort yourself and your prejudices. This incredible piece of literature does this by showing ableism, sexism, and segregation due to racism. Every character in Of Mice and Men faces discrimination. This leads to isolation and loneliness. Although each character is lonely and craves attention, no other character compares to Curley's wife. She is the only woman on the ranch and is by far the loneliest character. Throughout Of Mice and Men, there are many obvious signs of …show more content…
She is not even valued enough to have her own name. She is exclusively referred to as Curley’s wife. ‘“I get lonely’ she said ‘you can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody, else Curly gets mad”’ (Steinbeck 87). Curley's wife openly says this to Lennie during their conversation in the barn. She is struggling and is obviously stating that she needs attention. Curley’s wife was lonely because of how other people treated her. All the men on the ranch view her as poison. “‘Don’t you even take a look at that bitch? I don’t care what she says, and what she does. I seen ‘em poison before, but I never saw any piece of jailbait worse than her. You leave her be’’’ (Steinbeck, 32). George tells Lennie this immediately after meeting Curley’s wife. Curley’s wife is the only woman on the ranch and she is already married. All the men avoid and ignore her so they do not get in trouble with Curley. She is discriminated against because of her gender. Curley’s wife continuously overcompensates in hopes of gaining attention in any way possible. While Candy, Crooks, and Lennie were sitting in the Crooks bunk ‘“looking in was Curley’s wife. Her face was made up. Her lips were slightly parted”’ (Steinbeck, …show more content…
Even Curley. I know where they all went”’ (Steinbeck 77). All of the men at the ranch had gone to a cat house. She is constantly made to feel like she wasn't enough by her husband and ignored by all of the other men. She always tries to look nice to gain any attention possible. Curley’s wife often feels remorse about the life she chose and the life she could have had. “‘Coulda been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes. An’ I coulda sat in them big hotels, an’ had pictures taken of me. When they had previews I coulda went to them, an’ spoke on the radio, an’ it wouldnta cost me a cent cause I was in the pitchure. Because this guy says I was a natural”’ (Stienbeck 89). She had the option to be a movie star and live a glamorous life and be admired by everyone, but she chose to be with Curley. She knew that she would have been loved and had all the attention she wanted and now she has nothing. Curley's wife had no one to talk to; she was alone and treated like poison. No one wanted to see her. She tried as hard as she could but never seemed to be enough for even her husband, so she desperately tried to gain attention wherever she could. Curley’s wife is referred to as jailbait, and she is considered the worst person on the
(Steinbeck, 87). This means that Curley’s wife is lonely because Curley doesn’t allow her to talk to the other men, but he also doesn’t talk to her himself. This is significant because Curley not taking care of his wife and being mean to her is what causes Curley’s wife to sneak out to the barn and talk to Lennie. As a result, Curley could be held responsible for Lennie’s death. However, Curley’s wife is still more responsible because she tempted Lennis with her looks and how she spoke to him.
While the men saw her as a tramp for what she wore, Curley's wife saw herself as female who believed she was an equal with men and the only way she could prove that was by expressing herself with the clothing. Curley's wife knew that the only way to set herself apart from the housewives that still accepted the old ways was by standing up to the men. However, her course towards women's equality could also set her up for loneliness. The men see her as trouble for not acting like a customary wife and the women in the countryside could dislike her for trying to be out of the norm. This is present when Curley's wife tries to talk with Lennie but Lennie responds with," George says I ain't to have nothing to do with you- talk to you or
Curley’s wife is a complex villain whose lack of identity could imply that she is rather a possession of her husband, and not a person. When she is first introduced in the novel, she is presented as “jail bait” (32). The first image of Curley’s wife is a woman whose “face was heavily made up” (31). The men classify her as a “tart” (28). As the only female on the ranch, she inevitably feels lonely and craves attention.
Throughout the novella she is constantly referred to as ‘Curley’s Wife’ as a name is never given. This could convey the idea that she isn’t regarded as a person, merely as a possession for Curley to show off and heighten his importance amongst the people at the ranch. This could be an explanation as to why she acts the way she does, she is simply trying to gain a personality and be treated as an equal person but the way she goes about it gives the workers a negative opinion of her.
Curley's wife is the only girl on the ranch. She is one of the main characters that suffers from sexual prejudice and is only judged by her appearance not her personality. She is misunderstood and whose dreams have been shattered. She
In the barn scene Curley’s Wife is looking for company as she is lonely “I get lonely”. Steinbeck tells us of Curley’s Wife’s dreams as she slowly opens up Lennie despite his lack of interest. The reader gains more knowledge about her personality and her need to still fulfil her dreams, “He says I could go with the shows.” Despite her knowing the danger of death, she still lets Lennie stroke her hair as she has the never ending need for attention “Lennie’s fingers closed on her hair and hung
Curley’s wife acts very provocative, playful, childish and flirtatious, this is because she is very lonely and has no power at all. Nobody knows the real person she is because no one ever dares to get in trouble with her. Curley’s wife is often presented negatively by Steinbeck such as when she is cruel to crooks after his hopes have been raised by the dream. This is easily shown when Curley’s wife snaps at Crooks. “keep your place then, Nigger.
Curley’s wife, who is never given a name, but always called “Curley’s wife”, is shown with a lot of sexual prejudice. She is referred to as a “looloo” (51) with a very flirtatious nature and “she got the eye goin’ all the time on everybody”, and she might “even gives the stable buck they eye” (51). A "ranch with a bunch of guys on it ain’t no place for a girl, specially like
Loneliness plays an important role in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. He illustrates how people are driven to companionship through Candy, Curley's Wife and Crooks. Candy, the disabled and aged man, is devastated after his lifelong companion's death. Curley's Wife, ignored by her husband and seen as a troublemaker to the other ranch hands, seeks attention. Crooks, denies friendship because of the color of his skin and wastes away alone in his room as loneliness eats away the human soul.
Even though most of the characters feel this way, Curley's wife is the loneliest character. Curley’s wife is the loneliest because she's the only women,had to give up on her dreams,and is constantly judged. Curley's wife is the loneliest character because she is the only women on the ranch. She is the loneliest because Steinbeck writes “What's the matter with me?Ain't I got the right to talk to nobody?”.
Curley’s wife is referred to as a ‘tramp’ with unsporting evidence of actually ever being unfaithful. The men do not like to see her out of her home as they probably have a stereotypical mindset that women are suppose to stay at home. The men are misogynistic and describe Curley’s wife as a ‘bitch’. This meaning that the men hate her flirtatious ways but she is also seen as a danger.
As Candy, the housekeeper mentions to George, ?Well, I think Curley?s married?a tart.? (p. 14) What the men do not know is that Curley?s wife is just incredibly lonely, once having dreamt to be a star, and marrying Curley after the failure of that dream. She is all alone in the secluded world of the ranch. Having a husband who pays no attention to her, she tries to find someone to talk to among the men in the ranch, dressing provocatively for that reason only. Unfortunately, the combination of misunderstanding and their knowledge of only one type of women ? the kind they encounter at ?cat-houses? ? drives the men away from Curley?s wife.
Even in Curley’s wife’s very first appearance, the men on the ranch look down upon her due to her looks and flirtatiousness, especially George. In the second chapter, George scolds Lennie for commenting on how ‘purty’ she is, saying “I seen em’ poison before, but I never seen no piece of jailbait worse than her.” Of course, Curley’s wife
This reinforces the idea that women are seen and not heard. This attitude perpetuates gender inequality in the workplace and prevents women from achieving their full potential. Curley’s wife is often isolated and left alone at the ranch. Men, including her husband Curley, avoid interacting with her because they perceive her as distracting and tempting. During a conversation with Lennie, she states, "'I get lonely.
Curley’s wife is probably one of the most misunderstood characters in the novel, often being looked down upon, or talked badly about. She is the only woman on the ranch, and who appears consistently throughout the novel. At one point, some of the workers are