Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Essays on of mice and men the book
Essays on of mice and men the book
Literary analysis on of mice and men
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Of Mice And Men - Curley's Wife
“I never seen no piece of jail-bait worse than her” (George) what is the reader supposed to think about Curley’s wife?
In the Steinbeck novel ‘Of Mice and Men’, he introduces us to the character of Curley’s wife. She could be interpreted as a mis-fitting character in the novel, as no one relaters to her. This essay will go on to examine the character of Curley’s wife and how characters perceive her and how this influences the readers interpretation of her.
The social setting of the novel is also important, as it could later explain characters attitudes towards other people. It is set in the U.S. in the 1930s; this is the time of the Great Depression. This was a result of the First World War. It affected the rich and poor alike, factory workers and farmers, bankers and stockbrokers. In short, it affected everyone; no one was left untouched. But of all the people hurt, farmers were the worst off. John Steinbeck chose to write about farmers hoping that Americans would recognize their troubles and correct the situation. The great depression is known to be the worst economic disaster in the U.S history. For this reason the depression caused many people to change their ideas about the government and economy.
Curley’s wife is probably the most loathed on the ranch. The way she looks and acts leads other characters in the novel to see her as a “tart”. George makes his opinions clear just after he first met her “Jesus, what a tramp”, and “So that’s what Curley picks for a wife”. She just wants some one to talk to. Males on the ranch don’t like her because they think she will get them into trouble. They make judgments without getting to know her first. They judge a book by its cover. Curley, her husband doesn’t trust her with the other ranch hands. She was just out of place on the ranch, and because of that, must have been a really lonely person with lonely feelings.
Curley’s wife is given a reputation of causing trouble between other characters from different characters in the novel. There is no evidence of her living up to all of the reputation in the novel. Candy says “Well she got the eye” which could have many meanings and then he backs that up with “I seen her give Slim the eye” and finally he says “Well I think Curley’s married…a tart.” This explains his views on Curley’s wife. And when she dies he calls her a ...
... middle of paper ...
...mass of emotions between the men, the conflict of killing Lennie. And Curley finally showed some caring emotion “I know who done it.” “That big son-of-a-bitch done it” Is when he begins to show the love for his wife. Curley talks about going to kill Lennie, which shows that his wife may have been a big part of his life a nothing is going to replace her.
Curley’s wife is a difficult character to understand. Steinbeck hasn’t named her; this could be for a number of reasons. He may have wanted her to be seen as lonely therefore not naming her shows no one gets close enough to her to call her by her first name. He may have done it to show the other characters only see her as the wife of Curley rather than an individual. He may also have done it to show the male attitudes towards females. Curley’s wife also helps to provoke mixed emotions in the reader. We often feel sorry for her such as when she talks of her loneliness, but on other occasions the reader can find her cold hearted. This is seen when she is racist towards the other characters.
Most of Steinbeck’s characters are stereotypical, or have some form of a stereotypical view towards them and Curley’s wife is no exception.
Curley’s wife comes off as a provocative, flirtatious, lustful woman, but is really hiding her true identity as a depressed and lonely person. Throughout the book Curley’s wife does show her true identity, but still tries to stay positive and deal with the bad hand she was dealt. Curley’s wife is a prime example of even though your life took a wrong turn that you shouldn’t give up. Curley’s wife may of been depressed, but she still tried to communicate everyday with someone no matter what they said to her.
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.
Shortly before her death, Curley’s wife shares her life story with Lennie and reveals how she is forced to marry a man she dislikes and give up all hope of achieving her dreams. This is all because she was conned by a boyfriend in the past and now must marry in order to survive. Throughout the novella, she is only known as Curley’s wife and we never learn what her own name is since she is referre...
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 every person's life, they may come to meet someone who feels like they can fulfill their life by themselves and do not need anyone else. Completely independent, and able to do everything on their own. In Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, that is the case for Curley's Wife. The novel is filled with challenges and struggles for Curley's Wife to be independent, without a man. Curley’s Wife is forced to live around the farm, and only allowed to talk to Candy but is hoping for a new life by herself.
Known as the ‘tart’, she brought it upon herself not by her corrupt ways but, by truly opening her heart to Lennie. In other words, in this chapter Curley’s Wife is introduced as the farms sleaze bag, who gives all the workers the ‘eye’, translated to a modern term known as ‘checking them out’. “Well- she got the eye… I seen her give Slim the eye...An’ I seen her give Carlson the eye.”As this excerpt proves, Curley’s Wife is begging for trouble as she dolls herself up for the farm workers despite already being acquainted to Curley. In addition, one factor that ties Lennie and Curley’s Wife's fate together is Lennie special interest in her at first, after all he “watched her, fascinated.” The main reason I believe Curley’s Wife and Lennie will encounter a conflict would be the special interest Lennie takes into her. Based on the information given in chapter one, Lennie has a special interest in girls, however it is not sexual interest. Lennie is attracted to beauty and life as he does not want to let it go. The only beautiful thing on this farm would include Curley’s Wife. Thus, I believe there will be a conflict arising because of Curley’s beautiful Wife.
"George said, "She's gonna make a mess. They's gonna be a bad mess about her. She's jail bait all set on the trigger. That Curley got his work cut out for him. Ranch with a bunch of guys on it ain't no place for a girl, specially like her." John Steinbeck, author of Of Mice and Men, was born in a time period where women were considered only good for basic chores around the house. The character Curley's wife accurately portrays how women are seen in the time period. It is mostly branching from her not being called by her first name. Curley's wife shows women to be inferior and subordinate to men while her absence of a first name is included in all of the issues.
The first time we hear about Curley’s wife, Candy defines her to George using expressions such as “she got the eye” he then goes on to describe her as looking at other men before eventually calling her a “tart”. The words used have a negative connotation and already, the audience develop a bias judgement of Curley’s wife as “… a tramp” and George also articulates his own prejudices based on how Candy describes her by calling her “Jailbait”. The fact that Candy uses very simplistic, conversational expressions could indicate lack of academia and ownership of language, whereby in the 1930’s (when the novella was set) many people in America at this time weren’t fortunate enough to have had parents that could afford to send them to school. So many people like Candy with little or no literacy skills had to do manual labour ranches or in mines. Without little or no education, men of this era were closed-minded and ignorant. This way Curley’s wife is described could also reflect the historical context of the novella. During this era, women often depended on men for survival and it wasn’t uncommon for women to get married at a young age, like Curley’s wife did for social security. Because of this, women were regarded as functionary, property, a trophy therefore, abused and degraded by their misogynistic
An' I seen her give Carlson the eye...Know what I think?" George did not answer. "Well, I think Curley's married... a tart." Many of the men believe that Curley's wife is just property and doesn't understand her and how lonely and isolated she is. As we get into the story Curley's wife explain her back story to Lennie and we are able to notice how she really feels about her life and how she regrets some of the decisions he made before meeting Curley.
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?s wife spent her whole life trying to grab attention. She was always labeled and ignored by everyone on the ranch, an example of this is when George tells Lennie that she was troubled and to stay away from her. Curley?s wife was ignored and used from early on, when she was given false intentions on being a movie star.
Curley’s wife is probably the most loathed on the ranch. Because of the way she looks and acts, people think she is easy, or a "tart". " ‘Jesus, what a tramp,’ he said. ‘So that’s what Curley picks for a wife.’ " said George, p.35. She just wants someone to talk to.
Curley’s wife is an outsider on the ranch, simply because she is the one. only woman there is. Steinbeck never named Curley’s wife. She is defined by her relationship with Curley, as his property, not as an individual. Namelessness also has the effect of reinforcing how insignificant she is in the life of the ranch, how dependent she is on Curley, for her.
The character of Curley’s Wife is very hard to unravel, as throughout the book, Steinbeck’s representation of women through characters such as George and Candy, is very harsh. This is because the sociological opinion at that time was that they were either, mothers, sisters, or prostitutes, as the audience soon see, George and other ranch workers refer to her as “bitch” “loo loo” and “tramp”. There were also a growing number of prostitutes during the Great Depression period, as they would offload their services to those whom were able to pay and have some decent income during the Depression. Other aspects that may make Curley’s Wife seem like a tart, is Curley’s “Glove Fulla’ Vaseline”. Curley literally keeps a glove full of Vaseline, in order to keep his hand soft, possibly for a sexual act. Curley boasts to Candy that the hand is for his wife, which tells us that she gives him consent to do these acts to her, and also, Curley’s nerve to inform fellow workers about his glove shows that he believes that his own wife is a tart, which is very controversial today, but back then, women were seen as nothing more than possessions, yours to do what you will. George informs Lennie to avoid Curley’s Wife at all costs, and not to talk to her, because of her promiscuous behaviour, he believes t...
Curley’s wife is a complex, main character in John Steinbeck’s novella, “Of Mice and Men”. She is introduced as an insignificant secondary character, but evidently posses the importance of causing the end of the novella. Despite the weight of her role, her value is hindered because of the culture towards women in the 1930s. Steinbeck uses imagery, foreshadowing, and metaphors to show loneliness analyzed through a Feminist Lens.