Being unhappy and feeling alone in life can drive people to do things that will help fill the emptiness they feel. In the novel, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, each individual character has a motivation for their actions. Throughout the novel, Curley’s wife always craves attention and wants someone to talk to because Curley neglects her. She flirts with the other men and always runs from Curley. Near the end of the novel, Curley’s wife comes into the barn where Lennie is, to talk to him. Lennie is reluctant to speak to her because George has told him not to because she causes trouble between Curley and the men. Despite this, Curley’s wife still persists, and continues to talk to him. She says, “‘...Why can’t I talk to you [Lennie]?
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...
Curley's wife is an essential character for the development of John Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men, even though mysterious and nameless, she portrays the women of the 1930s, as well as emphasises their objectification and undermining. Curley's wife is also of great importance for developing the themes of dreaming as well as their downfall, the desire to be free and independent or essentially the American Dream. Finally, she also develops the theme of loneliness in the novel, as well as the theme of bitterness; her conversations with other characters in the novel greatly show this aspect of her and contribute to the novel in many ways, making Curley's wife one of the most influential and symbolic characters in Of Mice and Men.
“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...
The idea of solitude is a strong theme held throughout the entire novel "Of Mice and Men". Without it, many of the key events that occur in the book would not have happened, for example, the death of Curley’s wife, which eventually lead to the unfortunate death of Lennie.
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.
“The best laid schemes of mice of men often go awry”. George and lennie go through a series of events that get them in trouble and they have to go and find somewhere else to work. Lennie gets them them in trouble three times and it causes problums with thier farm dream. The last time lennie does a bad thing he has to get shot by george and george shoots him. George shoots him so he doesn’t have to suffer by curley. Steinbeck use foreshadowing to indicate the deaths of the farm dream, curley’s wife, and lennie.
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.
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.
Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, is a book that can be analyzed and broken down into a vast majority of themes. One of the predominant themes found in this book is loneliness. Many characters in this book are affected by loneliness and they all demonstrate it in one way or another throughout the book. Examples of these characters are Curley’s Wife, Crooks, and Candy.
Although Curley's wife was a beautiful young lady, she did not get exactly what she wanted. Curley, her own husband, does not give her the attention she needs and goes out with the “the boys” and not with her wife. Curley’s wife did not want live in this condition as she much rather wanted to be in movies and shows. Curley’s wife would boast to Crooks, Lennie, and Candy on how “‘[Curley’s Wife] could've went with shows” and goes on on how “ [Curley’s wife] was a natural”’ (Steinbeck 86) . Unfortunately this was not able to happen as she never got the letter from the man, she blamed her mom on hiding the letter from her. So Curley's wife moved out from her mom and tried to make her dreams come true. That same night Curley's wife decided to
In the touching and gripping tale of John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, he explains many themes throughout the books. One of the major themes is loneliness, which is shown throughout many different characters, for example, Curley’s wife, the stable buck (Crooks), and Lennie.
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.
Steinbeck uses possessive apostrophe to present the character of Curley’s wife as an object. Every time she is mentioned, she is referred to as ‘Curley’s wife’ rather than a name. This makes the reader think that she has no identity because a name is what contributes to your identity. Also, she is considered as having no voice because the other men say that she is a ‘looloo’ and gossip about her. This makes the reader feel sympathy towards Curley’s wife because she has no view of her own and cannot be recognised as a person. In the 1930’s, women were considered as housewives and were to stay within the house and obey their husband and Steinbeck has chosen to follow the stereotype of the 1930’s because women weren’t accepted in society which was male dominated.
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.