Curley's Wife Loneliness Analysis

The Refuge of Loneliness
“If you think love will drive you mad, try loneliness.” (Xavier). Although love may blind an individual, loneliness will transform them into weaker versions of themselves, in which they take disputatious actions. In John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, the effects of being disregarded by others is exemplified through Curley’s Wife’s actions. In this society, Curley’s Wife is heavily neglected by those around her, which is also proven through the lack of her legitimate name. Therefore, she goes out of her way in order to meet her needs and desires, but eventually leads to her death. Curley’s Wife demonstrates that lonely individuals tend to experience internal rejection by others actions, leading them to seek attention

Curley’s Wife is introduced through her physical descriptions, consisting of “full rouged lips...hair hung in little rolled clusters..and red mules, on the insteps of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers” (Steinbeck 31). Curley’s Wife dresses to stand out to the men on the ranch which is shown through a recurring image of red in her pattern of dressing. Red is typically a symbol for love, passion, and desire, which is heightened through Curley’s Wife desire that her presence is appreciated on the ranch. Curley’s Wife is a spot of color, as opposed to the monotony of the remaining aspects of the ranch. The red ostrich feathers she wears are not common farm attire, demonstrating that she dresses for attention. Curley’s Wife also acts in enticing ways to get attention by “[putting] her hands behind her back and [leaning] forward against the door frame so that her body [is] thrown forward”(31). Curley’s Wife behaves in ways she thinks will make the men around her give her attention. She changes her lifestyle from the one being noticed by all the men in the acting world to that of being the wife of a ranch man. The amount of attention she attains now has significantly decreased from her