In the short novel Of Mice and Men, the two characters Crooks, a Negro stable hand, and Curley’s wife, a lowly farm woman, have a very important purpose. The author, John Steinbeck uses them in different ways to get across a message. Although they are very different, they both struggle with loneliness and a lack of identity throughout the whole story. During the book, Steinbeck shows similarities, differences, and an overall message about the treatment of African Americans and women in this time period through the characters of Crooks and Curley’s wife. Curley’s wife and Crooks have many similarities that are evident in the story. They both are forced to live isolated away from all the others. Because of this, they both suffer from loneliness and feel like they have no identity. They look for company anywhere they can find it and they have a conversation with anyone who will give them the time of day. Both Crooks and Curley’s wife are treated unfairly and are not allowed to associate with any of the other men on the farm. Despite his unfair treatment, the only person that Crooks really expresses his loneliness to is Lennie; “Crooks said gently, ‘Maybe you can see now. You got George. You know he’s goin’ to come back. S’pose you didn’t have nobody. S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunk house and play rummy ‘cause you was black…. A guy goes nuts if he aint got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you’” (71). Crooks and Curley’s wife both long for attention and will take it however they can get it. Although they have many things in common, Curley’s wife and Crooks do have a few differences. Despite the deep longing for a friend, Crooks knows his place and never crosses any boundaries between him and t... ... middle of paper ... ...itely aware of the treatment of African Americans and women during this time period and he used the characters of Crooks and Curley’s wife to convey a message about that. During the book, Steinbeck shows similarities, differences, and an overall message about the treatment of African Americans and women in this time period through the characters of Crooks and Curley’s wife. In the beginning of the novel, these characters just appear to be flat characters that do not impact the story at all, but by the end a point is shown about the loneliness of African Americans and women in this time period. Although the similarities in the two characters may be hard to spot, they are definitely there. By using the characters in different ways, Steinbeck is able to get his message across very well. Without Crooks and Curley’s wife, the story would lose half of its meaning.
Curley’s wife, Crooks, and Candy are three characters who are constantly alone and feeling worthless. “Think I’m gonna stay in that two-by-four house and listen how Curley’s gonna lead” (78) Curley’s wife exclaims to Lennie, Crooks, and Candy. Constantly ignored by men, Curley’s wife acts overly nice and comes off as a flirty “rat-trap” (32). She
In the novel Of Mice and Men Steinbeck creates a character which is different from the rest of them, on which the reader might have a strong opinion about, differing from beginning to end. Curley´s wife switches from being classified as an antagonist of the novel, to just a fragile women with a hopeless dream.
In the novel, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, there is only one woman and one African American male announced in the reading. The women is Curley’s wife, her name is not stated in the novel, who is the only woman that lives on the farm. While Crooks, the African American male, lives on the farm in a little cottage away from the rest of the men that live there. As we keep reading, we soon get the idea that Steinbeck’s purpose of women and African Americans is to present: discrimination towards race, gender stereotyping, and the double standards in the predominantly male workplace.
Curley’s wife seems to get a lot of the other guys in trouble. Curley always suspects that she’s fooling around with the other men, “Any you guys seen my wife?” (p.53) Curley’s Wife always gives an excuse to confront the guys saying, “Any you guys seen Curley?” Then she tries to hang around and have a conversation.
“Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.” - Mother Teresa
...ther workers. Crooks is so badly isolated from the rest of the men that he is forced to live in his own area without contact from any of the other men. At one point, Lennie goes to Crooks’ room in an innocent attempt to make a new friend, but Crooks sharply shuts him down. Crooks said, “You got no right to come in my room. This here's my room. Nobody got any right in here but me” (Steinbeck 68). This quote is very significant in that is gives the reader a great sense of how strongly Crooks feels that his room is the only room in which he has any rights over the others. Steinbeck uses Crooks as a significant way in which society isolates people that are different. One last example that Steinbeck uses as a brilliant example of isolation is his insertion of Curley’s wife into the novel.
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.
Similar to Crooks, Curley's wife was not a fit member of society. She was viewed as a tramp due to her lust for attention. The men would avoid all contact from the fear of what Curley the boss’ son would do if they fell into temptation with her. Stienbeck clarifys her place on the socil latter when Curlys wife says “‘They left all the weak ones here”’ ( 77).
An example of how the men are discriminative towards Crooks is that he is forced to live in a shack away from the bunkhouse and also Crooks says that "They play cards in there, but I can't play because I'm black. They say "I stink" and "I ain't wanted in the bunkhouse." An example of when Curley's Wife is critical towards Crooks is when she looks into his room to see what Lennie and Crooks are doing and then she states, shaking her head, that they left the weak ones behind. Also, she threatens to have Crooks hanged because a black man should never talk to a white woman the way he just had. As a result of all of these discriminatory acts against him, Crooks feels unwanted and lonely because of his color and placement on the farm.
After Candy enters Crooks’ room, Curley’s wife enters the room also and tries to hold a conversation with
Curley’s Wife in ‘Of Mice and Men’ is used cleverly by Steinbeck to create sympathy among the reader, but also to represent the position of women in 1930s America. Through an intelligently designed pattern of events in the book, we feel varying amounts of sympathy for Curley’s Wife and thus unconsciously acquire information regarding the issues women had to face in the 1930s. In this essay I will evaluate the extent to which Steinbeck presents Curley’s Wife as a sympathetic character and its relation to 1930s America. We are first introduced to Curley’s Wife through a description of her from Candy, and straight away, that in itself demonstrates her lack of individuality because she can’t speak for herself or even introduce herself just like the majority of women in the 1930s. Also, the fact that Curley’s Wife does not have her own name and is simply a possession of Curley exemplifies the concept that women in the 1930s were treated as belongings of men and were stripped of their individuality, highlighting the social hierarchy in those times.
“’I get lonely’ she said ‘You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley, else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to nobody?’” (Page 87) This quote is said by Curley’s wife when all the men went to town, including her husband. It shows that she spends all her time alone, in her house as the men work in the fields. She is also not allowed to talk to anyone but her husband who spends all of this time in the fields, so she feels like she is living alone all her life. This forces her to talk to anybody she finds. This shows her case of loneliness, and Crooks almost has the same situation.
All throughout Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck explores how isolation through sexism and racism can cause a person to crave attention. He helps the reader to understand this by depicting both Curley’s Wife and Crooks, who were minorities on the farm, as extremely needy for attention
Crooks says,” I’ll tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick. (Pg. 73)” He doesn’t even have the opportunity to have a companion, and that is sad. Curley’s wife also suffers from loneliness. Her only companion is very controlling.
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.