Of Mice And Men Curley's Wife Essay

“Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck is a book that explores the underlying rules of society. In this novella, Steinbeck was able to represent society within a ranch in Soledad, California. The predatory nature of human existence is shown throughout this work as Steinbeck uses Curly’s wife to reveal how men blame women in a male-dominated society. In this novel, I enjoyed Steinbeck’s foreshadowing. The moment Curley’s wife appears in Section Two, the reader senses that she will be a catalyst in terms of the conflict that takes place in the story. She is the only woman in the novella, and her flirtatious behavior tempts the lonely ranch hands. She was described as a beautiful young women. Steinbeck’s description was: “She had full, rouged lips and wide spaced eyes, heavily

The belief of the American Dream is based upon the possibility to gain a better life through hard work, but the situation in the novel says otherwise. Lennie had issues mentally and is considered weak in the ranch community. His status amongst the men is similar to Candy’s dog amongst the dogs. They could not avoid being killed by the stronger members of society. The strong have complete control over the lives of the weak. I believe Steinbeck used this aspect to reflect the power of banks to take away the citizen’s money during the Great Depression. The American Dream is equivalent to the dream farm, and the stock market crash in 1929 can be compared to Lennie’s death. In section three, Candy is willing to invest in the dream farm, “S’pose I went in with you guys. Tha’s three hundred an’ fifty bucks I’d put in.” (Steinbeck, 87). This investment is similar to the investment done by the Americans during the roaring 20’s. They were so close to the dream farm they wanted, yet Lennie’s death brings the impossibility of it taking place. The banks took money from people just like George took Lennie’s life, to prevent their own