Of Mice And Men Curley's Wife Loneliness Essay

853 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Racism in mice and men

“’They left all the weak ones here,’ she said finally.” (Steinbeck 77) Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a story of two friends departing to work on a ranch. It takes place in Soledad, California during the era termed the Great Depression. Countless characters in Of Mice and Men have impairments. Curley’s wife is lonely, Lennie is mentally slow, Candy is old and without a right hand, and Crooks is black in a sad time when that is not extremely acceptable. One of the handfuls of characters with impairment in this book is Curley’s Wife. She is lonely and a bit of a “tart” as understood in the book various times. “Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely.” (Steinbeck 86) No one ever wants to talk to her because …show more content…

He is mentally slow. “George said I ain’t to have nothing to do with you – talk to you or nothing.” (Steinbeck 86) His friend George offers him guidance on almost everything throughout the story. During this time, it is not acceptable to be mentally slow, for the reason that no one understands and just assumes insanity. Another example of when this impairment is seen is when Lennie and George were living in Weed. Lennie was touching a girl’s dress and she begun to scream “rape” since she did not realize what he was doing. Lennie did not intend harm by this though. A final instance where this is seen is in Chapter 3 when Lennie crushes Curley’s hand. He did not undertake anything at first. George yelled for him to fight, subsequently he did. He did not realize how firm he was gripping and squeezing though. He meant no harm. This character is not the only one with an impairment he cannot currently …show more content…

Candy is awfully old and has no right hand due to an accident on the ranch. Being old and attempting to work is already challenging enough, having no right hand just adds to the difficulty. “’I ain't much with on'y one hand. I lost my right hand here on this ranch. That’s why they give me a job swampin'" (Steinbeck 60) He cannot accomplish much with only one hand, yet he still continues to work. An instance where an effect from his impairment shows in the book exists in Chapter 3, when Carlson shoots his dog. The guys here certainly fail at having respect for him. Candy tells them multiple times he has no intention of allowing them to shoot his dog, however they still act. Candy eventually lets them execute it. His reasons for giving up is that he is not growing younger and could not accomplish anything even if he was to seek to argue with them on the subject. A final example of his impairment is that he cannot perform an exceptional amount of work. The reason for this is obvious. He is aged, tired and without a right

Show More
Related

  • Of Mice And Men Curley's Wife Character Analysis

    669 Words  | 2 Pages

    “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.

    Read More

  • Essay On Curley In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

    491 Words  | 1 Pages

    The novel Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, contains many characters that would significantly change the plot if they were not there to be in it. One of these characters is Curley. Curley is a minor character who plays a large role. He is like the bully of the story and is the cause of many of the events that take place on the ranch. There are multiple ways that the story would change if Curley was non-existent.

    Read More

  • Of Mice And Men Curley's Wife Quotes Analysis

    687 Words  | 2 Pages

    Is it possible to achieve the “American dream?” In the novel “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck the main characters Lennie and George to migrant workers dream of owning their own farm and not having to obey to anyone's orders except their own. They flee from Weed because of an incident with Lennie touching a girl's dress and accusing him of rape. They get a job at a ranch outside Weed buckin barley and meet an “old dog” named Candy. Candy and George get to talking and George tells Candy about their “Dream” and Candy says he can help them get the ranch if he gets to come with them. They decide to leave at the end of the mouth but Lennie kills Curley's wife by snapping her neck and George decides to kill Lennie so he doesn't die a slow and

    Read More

  • Emotionally and Physically Crippled Characters in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men

    819 Words  | 2 Pages

    Emotionally and Physically Crippled Characters in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men Works Cited Missing "Of Mice and Men is a novel in which the majority of the characters are crippled, whether physically, socially or emotionally" is a very astute statement. Many of the characters in the novel suffer due to the time period the novel was set in. The 1930's were a terribly lonely time for the itinerant, ranch workers, ranch wives and Afro-Americans. Their lonely lives left them emotionally crippled, for they didn't have much company. This was because they had been alone for so long that they had chose to live isolated from other people.

    Read More

  • The Vulnerability of Innocent Characters in Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men

    546 Words  | 2 Pages

    Due to child like qualities, Lennie is a person which would be easy prey and a vulnerable person. Lennie is a vulnerable person who is quite dumb. His has an obsession for touching soft thing and this will often lead him in to trouble. But poor Lennie is an innocent person who means no harm to anybody. When he and Curley get into a fight Lennie is too shocked to do any thing. He tries to be innocent but, when told to by George grabs Curley’s fist and crushes it. George is Lennie’s best friend and Lennie does every thing he tells him to do as demonstrated in the fight with “But you tol...

    Read More

  • Of Mice And Men Curley's Wife Character Analysis

    630 Words  | 2 Pages

    Have you noticed that many parents tell their children to dream big and strive to meet their goals? When you are a girl, however, your big dreams become harder to reach, especially in the work field. In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the main characters named Lennie and George work on a ranch for Curley's family. When Curley's wife strikes up a conversation with Lennie, she tells him,"'...I met a guy, an' he was in pitchers...he says he was gonna put me in the movies. Says I was a natural. Soon's he got back to Hollywood he was gonna write to me about it...i never got the letter...'" (Steinbeck 88). Curley's wife's ideal career was to become a movie star. She believed she could have been famous for her spectacular acting skills because a man told her that he could have made her into a star, but he never showed up after their first encounter. At the time, if women did not have an occupation, it was very difficult to make a living and survive without marrying a man, thus causing Curley’s wife to marry Curley. However, Curley’s wife regrets the marriage as she says, “‘ I tell you I ain’t used to livin’ like this. I coulda made somethin’ of myself…’” (88). Curley’s wife feels that she had the potential to reach her dreams, but solely relying on the man’s return to ignite her career did not benefit her in any way.

    Read More

  • Of Mice And Men Curley's Wife Essay

    779 Words  | 2 Pages

    However, Curley’s wife isn’t really a tramp, she is just looking for someone to talk to because she is always alone and because she doesn't like her husband. We can see how Curley’s wife feels about Curley on page 78 of Of Mice and Men, where John Steinbeck writes that, “ “Sure I gotta husban’. You all seen him. Swell guy, ain’t he? Spends all his time sayin’ what he’s gonna do to the guys he don’t like, and he don't like nobody. Think I’m gonna stay in that two-by-four house and listen how Curley’s gonna lead with his left twict, and then bring in the ol’ right cross?” ,” Here, we can see how much Curley’s wife dislikes her husband because he is always talking about fighting with someone and also because he apparently can’t get along with anyone. Curley’s wife also expresses throughout the novel that she is so lonely that she will talk to anyone, even Lennie, Crooks, and Candy who are outcasts, and who she describes as “bindle stiffs”. On page 78, John Steinbeck writes that, “She was breathless with indignation, “Sat’day night. Ever’body out doin’ som’pin’. Ever’body! An’ what am I doin’? Standin’ here talkin’ to a bunch of bindle stiffs-a nigger an’ a dum-dum and a lousy ol’ sheep-an’ likin’ it because they ain’t nobody else.”” To sum it up, Curley’s wife feels like she’s hit rock-bottom because she is so lonesome to the point where she is

    Read More

  • Social Stereotypes In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

    777 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck walks us through the journey of best friends named George and Lennie, who work on a ranch during the Great Depression in California’s Salinas Valley to achieve their goals. Throughout the book, Steinbeck suggest that social hierarchy and classification can lead toward a treatment to lower class workers, different genders and race, and the mentally disabled, when compared to white men workers.

    Read More

  • Of Mice And Men Curley's Wife Analysis

    733 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Of Mice And Men - Curley's Wife

    1157 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Of Mice and Men

    2756 Words  | 6 Pages

    Of Mice and Men is a novel written by John Steinbeck. It is set in California during the great depression. The story follows two ranch hands who travel together and are very poor. Throughout the novel we witness many different philosophical references. Many different types of characters from this novel are reused in today’s society. Steinbeck also writes eloquently about the many different emotions, aspirations, and dreams of man.

    Read More

  • Character Traits of Lennie in Of Mice and Men

    997 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of Lennie's many traits is his forgetfulness. He easily forgets what he is supposed to do, but he somehow never forgets what he is told. An example of how Lennie is forgetful is when he has the mice in his pocket and when he went to pet them they bit his finger. “Lennie picked up the dead mouse and looked at with a sad face. When they bit him he pinched them, and by doing that he crushed their heads” (page 5) . This is important because he knew that if he squeezed their heads they would die, but since he is forgetful, he squeezed anyway. Another example of how Lennie is forgetful is when he grabbed Curley's hand and crushed it. “ Curley’s fist was swinging when Lennie reached for it. Lennie squeezed on until George came running in shouting ‘let go’. The next moment Curley was on the ground wailing while he held his crushed hand” (page 64). This event is important because Lennie had held on, not knowing what to do next, until George told him what to do. A final exampl...

    Read More

  • Curley's Wife: Misunderstood In 'Of Mice And Men'

    1773 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • To What Extent Curley's Wife a Victim in Of Mice and Men

    898 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Character Development of Curley's Wife in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

    998 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Curley’s wife may seem insignificant character because of her lack of identity. As Curley’s wife develops, we can see that she isn’t the unimportant character readers expect her to be but much more interesting and complex.

    Read More

More about Of Mice And Men Curley's Wife Loneliness Essay

Open Document