A Misunderstanding Without History In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

A Misunderstanding Without History We all have that one character we extremely hate, whether it 's in a book or show, you just want them to die. However, not all characters should be hated to the core, many have their own reasons. In the novel “Of Mice and Men,” by John Steinbeck, the author illustrates how readers can easily misinterpret Curley’s wife without any historical context, through the need of companionship of Curley’s wife, wishing to reach to her dreams and the desire to have freedom. To begin with women in the 1930’s, they desired to seek one that can understand and support their hardships.In the novel all the male characters have no sympathy for Curley’s wife, they constantly speak

In the novel one of the men, Carlson is annoyed by Curley’s outburst of trying to look for his wife and complains, “Whyn’t you tell her to stay the hell home where she belongs?” (62). Men didn’t like the idea that women could have the same rights as them and go around to places instead of staying at home. They believe that since women are meant to be housewives, they should stay in the house. From this quote, the reader perhaps, mistakenly agrees with Carlson, thinking that Curley’s wife is just a rebellious woman who isn’t there for her husband. This distinguishes of how the readers can misunderstand Curley’s wife characterization by reason of the lack of historical context. Adding on, the historical content elucidates about the real struggle women had to endure, by having to do so many chores in the house without ever receiving a break. From the “Women in the New Deal Era”(PDF) the author states, “Women not only had to worry about supporting their families by providing food, shelter, and clothing, but they also were depended on to deliver emotional support to their loved ones in those trying times, in any way they possibly could.” Not only were women supposed to physically take care of the family they had to mentally take care of them too. A woman shouldn’t be bound in chains where she is forced to work till she dies. During those times women weren’t allowed to have the freedom to do something besides just working, but that doesn’t mean they never yearned the desire for freedom. This quote addresses the necessity of freedom that women had