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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. Throughout the novel, Curley’s wife interacts with the characters in a flirtatious manner that is intended to grab attention, thus making the others distrustful of her. It’s fascinating to note that the way others treat her determines how she treats them back; for example, Lennie is the only man to regard her positively, calling her “purdy” (Steinbeck 32), so she behaves empathically towards him, whereas Candy refers to her as a “bitch” (Steinbeck 84) and she’s rather vile towards him. This point is further supported …show more content…
As Stephen M.R. Covey once said, “We judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their behaviour.” Likewise, while one can directly view her as a slut for her flirtatious manner, others can infer that Curley’s Wife justifies her actions for her loneliness. In conclusion, Curley’s Wife is presented as a misunderstood person with a hidden dream, desire for recognition, and intriguing character interactions whose poignant story sets her up as a sympathetic figure. Indeed, it seems that in a world dominated by men, one woman had to solely endure the plight of gender oppression, with the cost eventually being death
In John Steinbeck’s book Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck portrays Curley’s wife as a flirtatious, mischievous, and over all isolated woman. Steinbeck doesn’t give this character a name, yet she is one of the most important characters in the story. Curley’s wife first comes off as flirtatious to the main characters, George and Lenny, when they first hear about her from the character Candy . Candy is talking about how she gives men “the eye”. He also displays his feelings about her by saying, “Well, I think Curley’s married… a tart”(28). This is setting George and Lenny up to expect she is a flirt.. Steinbeck describes Curley’s wife in her first introduction as a scantily dressed woman.. Steinbeck writes, “Both men [George and Lenny] glanced up, for the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off. A girl was standing there looking in. She had full, roughed lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled cluster, like sausages. She wore a cotton house dress and red mules, on the insteps of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers”(31). The color red is sometimes considered for portraying a sign of danger or sex. This passage supports Curley’s wife as being flirtatious and also how she’s dangerous and can cause trouble displaying herself while she is married. Also, when George and Lenny are talking to Curley’s wife she tries to flirtatiously talk to them too. After their first conversation she re-adjusts herself. Steinbeck displays her with “She put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward”(31). Steinbeck is explaining to the reader in detail that Curley’s wife is trying to show herself to Lenny and George to get thei...
“Nobody’d listen to us” (81) exclaims Crooks when talking about being ignored. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck illustrates the characters Curley’s wife, Crooks, and Candy experiencing loneliness and isolation while living on the ranch. These characters attempt to socialize, succeeding and failing. Loneliness and isolation of the characters results in yelling, bullying, and even a broken neck.
Steinbeck introduces Curley's wife to the reader before the reader even meets her at the end of Chapter 2; when George and Lennie first meet Candy in the ranch, he mentions that "Curley has married… a tart," this shows how Curley's wife, even before being presented in the book, is spoken about in a very derogatory and gossipy manner. Steinbeck wishes to prepare the reader to meet Curley's wife by giving the reader a biased and influenced look about the way she acts; this early impression of Curley's wife entices the reader to have a negative look on Curley's wife by mentioning her as a "tart," which exemplifies comments that are repeated multiple times when speaking about her. That comment makes the reader believe she will be flirty and promiscuous, as well as prepares the reader to the problems that Curley's wife will bring to the novel.
“Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody.” (Steinbeck, 86). In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Curley’s wife is an outcast compared to the men. Being female, she cannot do what the men can. This novel was based in the 1920’s, a time where women weren’t allowed to do certain, almost all, things. She was not allowed to talk to anyone because she was seen as a threat. Her treatment was caused by how men viewed her. This all affected her responsibility, the views of her as a woman, and her loneliness.
How does the reader’s perception of Curley’s Wife change through the book? In Of Mice and Men the reader’s opinion of Curley’s Wife changes throughout the book, in the beginning of the book the reader looks at her as trouble. Near the end the reader starts to feel sympathetic towards her. Although all the characters look at her as a “tramp”, despise, and avoid her, the reader sees her differently. The reader sees how miserable she is, and how many other things she has to put up with everyday. She might not be the nicest person out there, but she is still a person with feelings. The reader’s feelings drastically change from the beginning of the book to the end. She is perceived negatively repeatedly throughout the book, by all the characters at many different times. She is known as the “tramp” at the ranch, the reader would obviously think negatively of Curley’s Wife when all the characters are talking trash about her. In chapter 2 George said to Lennie “I seen ‘em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her. You leave her be.” After reading this how could the reader see Curley’s Wife in any other way. As the reader I also despised Curley’s Wife, I didn’t want her to get close to Lennie or George because I knew she would try and get them in trouble or something bad would happen with her being there. This quote specifies how almost every man felt on this ranch, and this was very early on in the book, George had not even had a decent conversation with her and he was already talking about her in this way. This was not only in the beginning of the book; at the scene of her death Candy was shouting “you got damn tramp” at her dead body. This shows even when she is dead, how little everyone cared about her. The r...
Steinbeck also presents another view of Curley’s wife. In his omniscient description [form: overall writing technique] of her, he writes that she ‘bridles a little’ at Lennie’s attention; she is metaphorically shying away from the fixated attention. Steinbeck also unobtrusively mentions that she is a ‘girl’; both these observations suggest her innocence and vulnerability.
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.
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.
He uses characterization to show that Curley was the real antagonist, and not his wife. Curley’s wife told Lennie all about what it’s like living with Curley, and how “he ain’t a nice fella” (89). When the other guys thought she was trying to flirt with everyone except her husband, she was really just trying to run away from him. This idea was further proven when she asked the men, “Think I didn’t know where they all went? Even Curley. I know where they all went,” after pretending to look for her husband (77). She wandered around pretending to look for her husband, when in reality, she wasn’t trying to do anything except escape from
In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men that was written in 1937; the character of Curley’s wife is portrayed in an unusual way as it makes the reader question her innocence. Her hasty marriage to Curley proves to be a failed attempt to escape from her spiral of loneliness. Curley doesn’t satisfy her so she finds solace in other men even the three at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Because of the circumstances of her own isolation she can’t escape from the sexual image that other men on the ranch have of her. She therefore uses this as a means of getting noticed by other men.
In conclusion I believe that Curley’s Wife is a very significant character in the novella because she represents the stereotypical woman and they way she acted, and was treated leads me to feel great sympathy for her despite her flirtatious demeanour. Steinbeck is very successful in creating sympathy throughout her character change and he presents her in this way to prove that the majority of women went through similar situations. This leads us to sympathise with all people society deem to be ‘inferior’ and we can even apply this lesson to today’s society.
Comment on how the character of Curley’s wife is portrayed in Sinise’s. 1992 television film version of "The Thriller" How is this characterization different? to that of the original novel by Steinbeck? Introduction The “Of mice and men” by Steinbeck was written in the 1930’s during the period. great depression Era which came about as a result of the Wall Street crash.
Life is full of choices: where to go to school, where to live, who to marry, and what jobs to apply for, and most of the time each of us control what happens with these choices. What if those choices brought someone to the point of being trapped and feeling helpless? In the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck the wife of Curley is in just that spot. She made the choice to marry a tyrant of a man and is now forced to live with the consequences of her decisions. Curley’s Wife is misunderstood due to the workers’ assumptions, Curley’s relationship with her, and her unclear background.
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.