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Women In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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Overlooked. John Steinbeck captures the zeitgeist of his era in his works by presenting female characters who tend to be seen as inferiors to their male counterparts. The men in his literary works often overshadow many of the women. While some of his women wait until times of crisis or need to step into the spotlight, others remain a soft-spoken source of strength throughout the story. It is these women who never truly receive the recognition they deserve. In his stories, Of Mice and Men, The Pearl, and The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck presents female characters whose determination and strength help to provide support for the people around them or sometimes themselves. In Of Mice and Men, Curley’s wife is easily written off as just Curley’s “property”. This is evident by the fact that she is never given a proper name in the novel. Despite her status as a mere male possession, Curley’s wife continues to attempt to achieve her goals and befriend others. To the men, her friendliness comes off as seduction. When talking to George about …show more content…

In times of hardship, it is Ma who does everything in her power to keep the family together. Ma tells her family that “‘[it] ain’t good for folks to break up’” (Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath 180). It is within Ma’s core to protect this family and everything about it as she is the one who keeps it together. She knows that if she were to falter or fail in any sense, then “the family would fall [and] the family will to function would be gone” (Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath 64). According to Warren Motley, “Ma Joad possesses the psychological qualities to govern her family community because she has actually given birth to it and nurtured it” (Motley 168). Steinbeck makes it clear that without Ma’s strength to hold the family together, everything would fall

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