The book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck took place in California during the Great Depression. The Great Depression started because the stock markets crashed all around the world. The United States didn’t recover until 12 years later, the end 1939. Most people had poor living conditions and women didn’t have many rights during that time period. Many of the children had to leave school to help support their families on the farm doing farm work. Many women had to give up their jobs to become stay at home moms. Lots of people became homeless because they couldn’t pay rent. During this time, many people became discriminate because they were in competition for jobs. Many people died from starvation and from illness. In most cases, people didn’t …show more content…
Curley’s wife tells Lennie to feel her hair and then Lennie grabs ahold of her hair. Curley’s wife starts to scream, then Lennie covers her mouth and nose with his hand. Lennie got angry that she was screaming so he started to shake her. Her body flopped like a fish and then she became still, Lennie broke her neck. Lennie tried to bury her in the hay while the other men were outside playing horseshoes. Candy came into the barn to find Lennie and Curley’s wife. Candy goes to find George and bring him to the barn. Lennie runs off to hide in the brush. George and the rest of the men go to find Lennie so they can kill him. George finds Lennie and they talk for a bit before George pulls out a gun and shoots Lennie in the back of the head. The theme of the book Of Mice and Men teaches us about the nature of human existence. They all admit, at least one time in the book, to wanting a better life. Curley's wife says that she could have been famous for her looks. All of the characters admit to being lonely. Crooks says that life is no good without a companion to turn to in times of need. They all contributed to being helpless, however, they work toward destroying those who are weaker than they
John Steinbeck, an American novelist, is well-known for his familiar themes of depression and loneliness. He uses these themes throughout a majority of his novels. These themes come from his childhood and growing up during the stock market crash. A reader can see his depiction of his childhood era. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck shows the prominent themes of loneliness, the need for relationships, and the loss of dreams in the 1930s through the novels’ character.
Lennie dreams of living on a wide open ranch with George where he tends to the fluffy little rabbits he loves so much. Nevertheless, Lennie sadly never reaches his ultimate goal as his flaw finally becomes his fatal flaw. Lennie kills Curley 's wife by shaking her so hard that her neck breaks. He does not kill her on purpose but Lennie does not know his own strength. He is only shaking her like that because he wants her to stop yelling.
Was George to harsh or too fast with his decision to kill Lennie? Ever since Lennie was born he has needed help “living” and it started with his aunt Clara. When his aunt Clara died Lennie needed someone to help him with his everyday life and someone that could be there and tell him what to do. Lennie starts to travel with a good family friend George. In the book “Of Mice and Men” there is many cases where Lennie just “holds on” to George. George realizes in the end of the book Lennie has done too much harm and needs to essentially go away. George then shoots Lennie in the back of the head because Lennie couldn't live on his own if he were to run away from Curly and the rest of the gang of workers coming after him. George did the right thing because Lennie was unstable and George knows lennie didn't mean to harm anything. He doesn't know his own strength and George really wasn't qualified to help Lennie learn that he is powerful beyond measure.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration states that during the Great Depression era, “...the federal government did prohibit a married couple from both holding government jobs, and as late as 1939, legislatures in 26 states considered laws limiting married women's work. Both men and women believed that married women should give up their jobs if their husbands wanted them to. In the Depression decade, those wives who worked outside the home were viewed as selfish, greedy women who took jobs away from male breadwinners.” (Grice) Historians have documented that the role of women as a minority in 1930s America was largely to remain as a man’s inferior and serve as a servant in the household as they were shamed if they chose to get a job. Strict gender roles, portrayal as flirtatious “temptresses”, and being forced to give up any dreams of a successful future were just a few of the inequalities women face in this era. John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men is a novella set during this time period in Salinas, California, following the lives of migrant farmers and one woman in particular known simply as Curley’s wife. Steinbeck is aware of this disenfranchisement of women in 1930s America and he uses Of Mice and Men as a vehicle to comment on the struggles that women, like his character Curley’s wife, face as victims of a prejudiced time.
When asked about John Steinbeck’s career, people often refer to Steinbeck as a playwright, journalist, and a well-known novelist. The book Of Mice and Men is a popular novel by John Steinbeck and a required read for most high school students. Most of Steinbeck 's novels have a central theme focusing on the relationship between man and his environment. The American dream for George and Lennie, two of the main characters in Of Mice and Men, is to have a place of their own, to be respected, and to work hard for everything they earn and deserve. In Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, the land and a hope of a better life becomes the talisman of an American dream for Lennie and George that is left unfulfilled.
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.
Curley's wife, comparable to most other characters in the novel, is a type of character with little discrepancy, moreover being the only woman in novel. Curley’s wife is demonstrated by her position and part. This part is however, being a possession of Curley or a wife. She is heavily insulted and looked upon as inferior: George and Candy call her "jailbait" and "tart", which supports the fact that he has no voice and as a matter of fact, no name – simply being referred to as Curley’s wife. Due to her lack of power, she attempts to gain it by leeching off those with power. This leeching is portrayed as her seducing the other men on the ranch who have large presence like Slim: “Hi Slim” supports a casual and somewhat flirtatious approach to the other men. She seduces other by wearing far too much makeup and dressing like a "whore" with “red fingernails” and red shoes with ostrich feathers.
The Great Depression was a period in the 1930’s when America was in a state of economic collapse. Poverty and unemployment were common, thus, leading to large amounts of migrant workers. The novel by John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men, is set in the times of the Great Depression. Steinbeck had abandoned the romantic view of mankind s occupying a special place in nature or that man is guided towards special ends. He did not see man as special or particularly cared for. Of Mice and Men reflects this philosophy. The characters experience loneliness, are unhappy with this state and desire empathy.
In order to live a happy, fulfilled life, the characters in Of Mice and Men must overcome their problem of being lonely. the characters Candy, Curley's wife, and Crooks show many examples of loneliness. Over the chapters these characters make many decisions by themselves. They never have anyone to talk to about their rough patches in their life. they must all overcome obstacles, some harder than others. some choices they make will change their lives
Men are supposedly “more powerful” than women when it comes to a lot of things. The book Of Mice And Men takes place in the1930’s where feminism would show up a ton. A lot of feminism is still relevant today, like groups who support feminism and some that are against it. And lots of women are being disrespected because of those who are against feminism or those who just don’t have respect for women and their rights. Even though the ways that men disrespect women have changed the disrespect for them is still alive and relevant today.
Despite being the only female on a ranch full of foul-mouthed men, Curley’s wife exploits both her sexuality and her status to demonstrate power throughout the novel. On Saturday night after most of the men leave, Curley’s wife stops by Crooks’ place. After a heated argument with Crooks’, she reminds him of her power on the ranch: “She turned on him in scorn. ‘Listen, n*****,’ she said. ‘You know what I can do to you if you open your trap?’ Crooks stared hopelessly at her, and then he sat down on his bunk and drew into himself. She closed on him. ‘You know what I could do?” (80) Curley’s wife is aware that because her husband’s father owns the ranch, she will always have more power there than Crooks will as a colored, poor man. Once Crooks finally realizes that Curley’s
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.
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.
Despite the perception that women are inferior and incompetent, seldom do women withstand this consistent discrimination upon their sex. Under the jurisdiction of men in their families, women are oftentimes restrained from opportunity and development. Curley, a man with an intimidating complexion, forces many, including his flirtatious wife, to succumb to his power. However, he fails to recognize his wife’s rising empowerment as she manipulates men around him into becoming her pawns. John Steinbeck’s usage of Curley’s wife in the novel Of Mice and Men delineates the desire of women to eliminate the over dominance of men through deceit in exchange for their own power.
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.