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The great depression history paper
The great depression history paper
Papers about the great depression
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Loneliness causes people to become mean, and afraid of everyone else. During the Great Depression due to lack of money; people had to travel around, and that did not allow them to have friends or get treated as family members. During that time people were migrating constantly from one place to another. The Great Depression era was a time of discrimination because people were judged by their age and race. This is how it is for Curley's wife in the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck because her name is never revealed. She is always mentioned as Curley's wife. Curley's wife is the only woman on the ranch and she is being controlled by her husband, who does not allow her to speak to other men on the ranch. Curley's actions lead her to loneliness …show more content…
She also doesn't want to be left behind by society. When Lennie is in the barn with the dead puppy Curley's wife is so desperate for companionship that she tries to talk to Lennie. But Lennie doesn't want to talk to her. Because George told him; she will get them in a mess. "Seems like they ain't none of them cares how I gotta live."(Steinbeck 88). Curley's wife feels so prohibited; that she does not know who she is anymore. She always stays in her small house thinking to herself, and not knowing what to do. She does not have anyone to listen to her feelings or dreams. She always gets ignored because everyone thinks; she will get them in trouble. Steinbeck uses characterization in the middle of chapter five to show how; Curley's wife is trying to get Lennie's attention. To show him that she is important and that she has a place in this world. Curley's wife said;" I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely," (Steinbeck 86). Curley's wife wants someone; to talk to about her American Dream, and about her unhappy marriage. Someone who will stand up for her when she needs it. However, Curley gets very jealous when she talks to other men on the ranch so all the workers avoid her. This shows that each character cares, more about themselves not getting in any trouble, than anyone …show more content…
Curley's wife tries to engage Lennie's attention toward herself by telling him about her American Dream and how she can't achieve it. " Coulda been in the movies, an' had nice clothes all them nice clothes like they wear," (Steinbeck 89). Curley's wife is so bored and lonely that she tries to get men’s attention, by doing that she pushes them further away. She is so lonely that she has given up on her dream of having a better life as a movie star and appears around men who would rather listen to her such as Lennie. She wants to feel like someone special. This loneliness prevents her from achieving her dream. Curley's wife has some hope and dream when she was younger and had her mom to talk to. She wasn't as lonely as she is today."He says; he was gonna put me in the movies. Says I was natural," (Steinbeck 88). She has hopes and future ahead of herself. After she married Curley she became lonely, because her husband ignores her and who, that doesn't allow her to have communication with other men, or go anywhere that she wants to go. This lead her spending time alone with Lennie and spending time alone with Lennie causes her unbelievable death. Because of her loneliness she loses all the opportunity that will help her to achieve her dream of being a superstar one day. Curley's wife loneliness
She flirts with the other characters on the ranch but they pay her no attention either. This essay will go on to look at the character of Curley's wife and how characters perceive her. When first introduced to Curley's wife in the novel she comes into the bunkhouse, when both Lennie and George are in there. She is apparently looking for Curly but she already knows that new men have arrived.
Curley’s wife shows her sympathetic side when she comforts Lennie after he kills the dog. She tells Lennie, “Don’t you worry none” (87). This quote demonstrates trying to connect with someone on the ranch; in this case it is Lennie. She tells him he is not a bad person and tries to keep his dream of tending the rabbits alive. She also says, “You can get another one easy” (87). This quote shows that she is a compassionate human being despite the constant judgment of her personality. Because Curley’s wife is comforting Lennie, he calms down and starts listening to her. Moreover, despite ...
...r say anything. So she is stuck at a ranch where all the members there avoid her because she is trouble and can’t even run away because of her being a female in the early 1900’s made it almost impossible to survive on her own. She dresses a certain way to live out the American Dream the only way she can. She doesn’t dress that way to show off her body, she wants to feel like she is living her dream. She realizes that she is good looking and she uses that to her advantage to talk to some of the people at the ranch like Lennie. The only way she got to talk to Lennie was by letting him touch her hair. Steinbeck let Curley’s Wife die in such a peaceful way; I didn’t even realize she was dead until I read over the section multiple times. He left her there in the barn describing her beauty, showing the reader through Curley’s Wife that even the worst of us have humanity.
In my essay I will discuss the theme of loneliness in the novel “Of Mice And Men.” The essay will consist of information based on the novel towards minor characters such as Curley’s Wife, Candy and Crooks. This essay will provide information about Curley’s Wife, Candy and Crooks’ loneliness. Curley’s Wife was probably one of the loneliest characters of all. She never talked to anyone and she never really liked Curley all that much.
Curley’s wife represents her broken dreams of becoming an actress. Lennie and George represent a dream in progress, it is uncertain if their plans will work out as intended or plummet before takeoff, even Crooks and Candy see the appeal in Lennie and George’s fantasy and join them. The dream in progress gives hope to Lennie and George and continued to even after losing previous jobs. Curley’s wife is constantly restricted, she married Curley so that she would no longer be alone but now is in the same state as before, just on a ranch of men. She tries to talk to the other men but she is then seen as "jail bait" and avoided, making her even lonelier. Her dream of being an actress has failed because she chose a quick way out and married Curley. She is now living in her failure and has no longer a dream to aim for. Perhaps the most important part of the story is the the part in which Lennie has accidentally killed the puppy given to him by Slim, and is grieving over him in the barn, “This ain’t no bad thing like I got to go hide in the brush. Oh! no. This ain’t. I’ll tell George I foun’ it dead.” He unburied the puppy and inspected it, and he stroked it from ears to tail. He went on sorrowfully, “But he’ll know. George always knows. He’ll say, ‘You done it. Don’t try to put nothing over on me.’ An’ he’ll say, ‘Now jus’ for that you don’t get to tend no rabbits!” (Steinbeck, 85) He feels powerless to his own strength, he believes that he will never achieve his dream because of his mistake. George and the other men are out once again and the only person who comes to his emotional aid is none other than Curley’s wife. “Don’t you worry about talkin’ to me. Listen to the guys yell out there. They got four dollars bet in that tenement. None of them ain’t gonna leave till it’s over.” “If George sees me talkin’ to you he’ll give me hell,” Lennie said cautiously.” (Steinbeck, 85) He
In the same way that George and Lennie had a dream, Curley’s wife had one too; for Curley’s wife, living on farm with a bunch of men that loathe her, and an annoying husband who she hates, is not exactly what she hoped achieve in life. If she was treated better, she would not have wanted someone to understand and care for her, because Curley would have done that for her. But since Curley did not do that, she wanted to get attention from anyone who would listen to her, and that is where Lennie got involved. When Curley’s wife enters the shed and starts speaking to Lennie she says something very important: “… seems like they ain’t none of them cares how I gotta live (88)”. When Curley’s wife says this, it shows us how much she is craving for someone to listen and care about what she has to say. It also shows us that she wants someone to listen to her so badly that she is willing to talk to someone that does not comprehend what she has to say. Since Lennie does not really understand or care about what she has to say, she gets the attention back on her by getting Lennie to focus on her soft hair. Lennie strokes her hair t...
In a world dominated by men, how will one woman fight the animosity of others just to find a friend? John Steinbeck's celebrated novel Of Mice and Men explores this theme of loneliness in the backdrop of the Great Depression, centering on the unrelenting friendship of two men, George Milton and Lennie Small. While the focus is on the duo's comradery, the reader sees glimpses of other characters who are equally as compelling. One of whom is Curley's Wife. Within this story, Steinbeck excellently crafts a tragic figure whose backstory reveal, search for companionship, and two-sided interactions with various characters - particularly Lennie - pave the way for a harrowing character arc that ends on a gruesome note.
...in this isolated scenario. She was naturally self-obsessed and oblivious of her surroundings. While most women were caring for their kids, helping around in the house, putting food on the table, Curley’s wife, the “tramp”, flirted with all the men while carelessly roamed around the farm as if nothing was ever wrong. In addition to her actions, Curley’s wife’s “stunning” appearance and self-obsessed attitude reflected her life that seemed to be stuck in the 1920’s. This desire to live the “dream” of prosperity ultimately leads to her untimely death when Lennie accidently kills her in the barn near the end of the novel. This death characterizes one of Steinbeck’s central arguments which centers on the idea of adapting to current situations. Curley’s wife’s inability to adapt is apparent throughout the novel and sets her apart from women during the Great Depression.
Curley’s wife has lost her dream and she lives an unhappy life. “An’ a guy tol’ me he could put me in pitches…” (Steinbeck 78). You can tell her dreams were crushed by her mom. By this she is unhappy and hates her life right now. ‘“I never got that letter,”’ “I always thought my ol’ lady stole it” ( 88). The director didn’t write to her. She gave up on her chances to be in the movies. “I don’ like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella” (89). She is living an unhappy life. She is very lonely since Curly is the only person she has to talk with.
Born 1902 in California, John Steinbeck grew up in a hard time for America. The Great Depression hit in 1929, leaving thousands of American people jobless, homeless, and poor. Along with this, the Dust Bowl occurred in 1931, which also killed and starved thousands. During this time period, many people did not have a home, and moved from farm to farm in order to feed themselves. John Steinbeck was one of the hundreds of thousands of migrant farm workers during this time. All of Steinbeck’s books are based off of American history, and migrant farm workers in the eyes of the people. In his novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses the characters Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife to contribute to the overall theme of loneliness.
Curley’s wife, is the only one in the story that is given no actual name, she is just known as “Curley’s wife.” She is the only female on the ranch. The book speaks of how she is fare and beautiful, but is a bit of a tease. Throughout the whole novel she is always looking for Curley, all the men on the ranch view her as Curley’s property. Candy describes her to George and Lennie as a tart (Miller).This term “a tart” is just a way of saying that she is unfaithful to her marriage, and has a sexual way about her. She is always seeking for attention from all the other men. Towards the end of the story she sees Lennie in the barn sitting on the ground leaning over what was his puppy, so she goes in and sits next to him; she leans over and begins telling him about how her life would have been if she wasn’t on the ranch. She spoke highly of herself, telling how she would have been in movies and wore nice clothes (Steinbeck 89). Lennie had been mesmerized by her from the start; she began teasing him by describing how soft her hair was, only because she knew that he loved soft things, she takes Lennie’s hand and says “Here, feel right here.”(Steinbeck 90) At this point Lennie got carried away and wouldn’t let go of her hair, she began to scream telling him to let go. Lennie panics, He tries to tell her not to scream but all she does is gets louder; he had no clue what to do at this point, he ends up holding her down and killing her by snapping her neck. George told Lennie at the very beginning of the story that if anything happens and he gets in trouble to go and hide near the bushes at the pond until he arrives. Lennie in fear runs away from the scene to that exact
Steinbeck describes Curley's Wife as a very friendly young women. For example, when Steinbeck describes her when she says, “She put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward” (31). When reading this, one can learn that Curley’s Wife is a very friendly women who is just looking for someone to talk to. She is forced to live on the farm and needs to find something to do, or someone to talk to while she is stuck there.
...they have chosen for themselves and always dream of a better place. Curley must know that his wife is unhappy, and he probably does not want to be around someone who is never pleased. Curley’s wife’s form of loneliness derives from the concept of pushing people away when one is unhappy.
Steinbeck displays, Curley’s wife as more of an object to the men at the ranch. He conveys this idea through the description of her appearance. When Steinbeck introduces the reader and George and Lennie to Curley’s wife he takes a long time to describe her. “She had full rouged lips and wide spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her finger nails were red “. This quotation suggests that Curley’s wife is an object to men in society and that she is as worth as much as she is wearing. Not only does Steinbeck describe her appearance he also describes her actions when on the ranch and talking to the men. He does this to show the awareness that the men have towards her. “She puts her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward”. A lot of the men on the ranch try to ignore and do not want to start a conversation with her but through Steinbeck’s description of her actions the reader can see that she craves attention from the men on the
Curley makes sure his wife doesn’t talk to anyone. She is a victim of herself because she married a man that she hardly even knew. She married him though, to have a companion. She killed herself and Lennie because of her need for companionship. She craves companionship because she is an attractive woman with a need for interaction.