Of Mice and Men is a story about two men that flee their current situation and end up on a ranch. They are in a camp full of men except for the boss’s wife. The boss's wife is a flirtatious woman that you can’t help but hate. You will hate her but maybe your reasons are not what you originally thought they were. A woman that is flirtatious, conniving, sly but also neglected. Women are in a general sense jealous creatures, but what has not been considered is that men can be just as envious creators. The men in the book are blunt with their hatred towards Curley's wife, but only when their fellow men are present. They often have very nice one on one conversations with each other. This implies that they do not want the other men to have what they have had with her. They protect what they have with her by pretending that it did not happen in hopes of …show more content…
She knows she has better luck with them when they are alone. This is evident in the novel when she gets alone time with Lennie. She knows, even though he wants her to leave, she can wear him down. She knows he remembers minimal amounts of information, therefore she uses that as an advantage. Curley’s wife wants something to happen so she can twist the story. She wants the attention that is constantly lacking in her life. Curley’s Wife lives a lonely life. She is seeking for companionship through the other men at the ranch. Her husband is a very self absorbed man and he does not give much thought to his wife's feelings. “...I’m struck with the loneliness that I can only imagine a woman like Curley’s wife must feel — the desperation for conversation, respect, and above all, dignity.” (Meester 2). Curley’s wife was lacking a voice in the relationship. She was treated as property and nothing more. She longed for a fulfilling life. A life she never got got a taste of. A life snatched from her but she did not die without taking Lennie out with
She needed people to talk to, like the others do. “A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. Don't make no difference who the guy is, long's he's with you. I’ll tell ya a guy gets too lonely and he gets sick.” (Steinbeck, 72-73). Crooks has shown us that he truly needs someone however he can’t because he is different. This goes for Curley's wife as well. Those who are different are lonely because no one wants to get involved with them. When she is lonely, Curley's wife goes to talk to people but they never accept request. “I get lonely, you can talk to people but I can't talk to nobody but curly. Else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to anybody?” (Steinbeck, 87). Curley's wife explains that she is lonely. However, no one really notices it. She knows that she is claimed by someone she does not love. She only wants someone else to talk to him. Have her being viewed the way she was, was unlikely to happen. Being the woman on the ranch was awfully hard to live happy. She knew that they won't talk to her, so depression became a factor.
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's' life was portrayed as a women who liked to be around other men to try to seduce them. She was described as many things, such as a tramp and other words other than Curley's wife. None of the employees on the ranch wanted to be around her because she was described as nothing but trouble. Lennie was the only one who showed her attention, but that ended badly.
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 ...
The first impression the reader get´s of Curley´s wife is definitely not a good one. She walks into the scene as if she owned the place, like a person who is confident of herself and well aware of their sexual appeal. The reader can identify that she is not afraid to use her sexual appeal as a weapon to her advantage. “Nobody can blame a person for looking.” She tells to Lennie as soon as she feels his look posed on her body. This is the first words she utters in her first encounter with Lennie. With judgment the reader can infer that she is a person fool of herself and self-centered. These thoughts later get confirmed when the workers call her a “tart”. The reader can now see how the workers behave around her and how they react to the thought of her. It´s not hard to quickly judge her and, like the workers, classify her as a tart and associated her with trouble.
Curley’s Wife was probably one of the loneliest characters of all. She never talked to anyone and she never really liked Curley all too much. “Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely.” (p.86) Curley’s Wife seems to get a lot of the other guys in trouble. Curley always suspects that she’s fooling around with the other men, “Any you guys seen my wife?” (p.53) Curley’s Wife always gives an excuse to confront the guys saying, “Any you guys seen Curley?” Then she tries to hang around and make conversation. The guy’s see her as a tramp and a troublemaker but all she wants is someone to talk too.
Curley’s wife could be considered an outcast in society. Women were not supposed to be adventurous, talkative, and mischievous; she was the opposite of what women were supposed to be in society. Every member on the ranch seen her as trouble and
Curley's wife is seen as a cheap possession, a toy that belongs to Curley. A possession that he gets to control. His lack of love, respect and attention results to her death in the end. By all the men she’s seen as a tramp, they think that she’s out cause trouble. But the truth is she’s desperately lonely. She just wants someone to talk to. She’s missed out on a wonderful life that could have been hers, and that hurts her.
In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, published in 1937, many characters are depicted as having a turbulent and continuously changing relationship with power. In the case of Curley’s wife, her power, or lack thereof, derives from her status of being the only woman on the ranch during a time when females were viewed as being inferior and subordinate to men. In some instances, Curley’s wife uses her femininity to her advantage to flirt with the various men on the ranch and obtain information from them. She is aware of her beauty and the control over men this gives her and she realizes that a seductive attitude can be used to manipulate others. Although, ultimately, being a woman is her downfall. The men on the ranch ridicule her and dismiss
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.
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.
All through the book Curley’s Wife is very “open” to everyone she meets. The reason for this can be interpreted by her and Curley’s “so-called” marriage. The relationship between Curley’s Wife and Curley seems to be somewhat unstable as he is always asking “Any you guys seen my wife?” (pg. ). This also shows how protective Curley seems to be as he is always checking up on where his wife is. Curley’s insecurity seems to cage in his wife from having any kind of a friendship with any other men. In turn, the wife gets so sick of being isolated like this and relieves her loneliness by conducting secret conversations with many other men on the ranch. As a result many of the ranch hands see her as a tramp but it can be viewed that all she really wants is a person to talk to.
Curley’s wife represents every woman in society who is insecure in life in someway; therefore, eroding people and society’s trust. Meaning they are lead by their insecurities to do things that they shouldn’t do; therefore, causing people and society to lose trust in the insecure person. Specifically, Curley’s wife is insecure because of how her life is rather than how it could’ve been. Subsequently, this leads to regret, which is contagious like the flu: regret leads to her doing things and acting out in ways that she shouldn’t; therefore, she is receiving attention from others. Just like all the other women in society she had her life picked for her; this makes her feel like she has no power over her own life so she tries to do things
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.
In Of Mice & Men, the character Curley’s Wife is depicted as flirtatious, promiscuous, and insensitive. However, her husband Curley sees her as only a possession. Most of the workers at the ranch see her as a tart, whereas Slim, the peaceful and god-like figure out of all the men, see her as lonely. This answer will tell us to which extent, is Curley’s wife a victim, whether towards her flirtatious behaviour, or to everyone’s representation of her.