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Gender Lens In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

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Being forced to kill someone would be really emotional, but imagine if that person was your best friend. In John Steinbeck’s book “Of Mice and Men” George and Lennie have been together since they were kids. Lennie idolized George and George, as often as he gets mad at him, still loves Lennie. They run from their old town of Weed to get a job as ranch hands in Salinas Valley. From there they meet many people, most of which welcomed them, while some had a harder time accepting them. Things start off well, but take a turn quickly. George and Lennie are the main characters, but some of the other characters can be deeply examined too, through different literary lenses. Curley’s wife is one of these characters, whom could be identified by many literary lenses. However, we will focus on one lens, the Gender lens. First off, while everyone in the story has a name or nickname, even Crooks, Curley’s Wife is never given a name. She is the only …show more content…

These were just a small handful of them. Now you understand how hard it would be to be forced into killing your best friend, who you know has a mental disorder. You can sympathize with Curley’s Wife for knowing how much Curley abused her and knowing she isn’t a tramp. You can understand why Curley, the Boss’s own son, doesn’t have much power at all. Now think about this, what if you were in any of these character’s situations. If you were forced to kill a friend, or suffered abuse from a husband you can’t divorce. How would people judge you based on your actions, not knowing the full truth. Would they Think you’re a murderer, or did what was best for your friend. Would they think you’re a tramp, or understand that your marriage is awful and you can’t do anything about it. Maybe you’ll think deeper about things like this from using literary lenses, and understand characters more

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2062 Words | 9 Pages

Curley’s married woman is talked about before she is seen in the book. The first existent reference of her is ‘wife. ’ Already it has been established that she has no name. she is merely Curley’s married woman. The work forces see her as a adult females.

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513 Words | 3 Pages

Besides, the fact that there were not any women’s names mentioned in the book reveals how evil women presented in this book. Curley’s wife was considered as only temptation and the source of conflict. Eventually, Curley’s wife deserved her death, and only then would she back to innocence. Also, the death of Candy’s old dog strongly foreshadows Lennie’s death. Obviously, the similarity between Candy’s dog and Lennie was that they were useless, weak but innocent.

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744 Words | 3 Pages

There are many indications that this is true, but three reasons stand out specifically. First, her character is described in one point of view only; the point of view of the men is the only told perspective in the book. Second, Curley’s Wife was forced to settle for less. She even goes to say this directly in the story. Lastly, she has a deep sense of isolation from being the lone woman on the ranch.

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600 Words | 3 Pages

Taking someone’s life is nearly impossible to justify. In John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, George had to make a tough decision when he killed his best friend, Lennie, to save him from a more painful death. The story takes place during the Great Depression in California, and follows two unlikely friends, Lennie, a extremely strong yet mentally disabled man and, George, who is much smarter and the leader of the two. George and Lennie are migrant workers, and after losing their previous job, have come to the ranch where the story takes place to find work. After Lennie accidentally murders Curley’s wife, he runs away, and a band of the workers assemble to punish Lennie, with Curley, an aggressive and prideful character as the leader.

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811 Words | 4 Pages

The character, Curley’s Wife, is an archetype. The initial description of her on page 31 is that she talks “playfully,” her voice has a “nasal, brittle quality,” she “smiled archly and twisted her body,” and she is often associated with the color red. “Her fingernails were red,” and she wore “red mules,” which had “red ostrich

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849 Words | 4 Pages

Because Curley’s wife is closely connected to the boss, her engagements towards the men on the ranch will only push her further away from them. Also, when Curley’s wife appears, her loneliness pours out of her with resentment. She describes her isolation at the ranch by stating, “I get lonely...you can talk to people, but I can't talk to nobody but Curley” (87). This shows that shes just a lonely young and naive girl, who uses her sexuality to get noticed on the

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511 Words | 3 Pages

America is often perceived as a country that values human rights. But on many occasions, this has been invalidated through the objectification of people of all genders, races, and backgrounds. Objectification is the act of treating a person as though they are not human but much rather an object or thing. For instance, Frederick Douglass’s aunt Hester in Narrative of the Life of a Slave by Frederick Douglass and Curley’s wife in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Objectification has caused human suffering, not just in the past but today as well.

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701 Words | 3 Pages

As you can see, Bucks negative relationship with Hal, Charles, and Mercedes shows that you can judge a person’s character based on their treatment of

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977 Words | 4 Pages

Furthermore, one of the most interesting roles in the ensemble of characters is Curley’s wife: her name is never mentioned in the book, as a reminder that she feels completely anonymous and useless, since her role is not recognised by none of the other characters. Her self-obsession probably originates from her desperate and unfulfilled need of validation. Someone may argue that her character is designed only as a tool for the development of the story, but her strong personality goes beyond this function. The moment of her death is in fact the highest moment of the novella and the culmination of an ascendant climax that goes throughout the whole narration.

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953 Words | 4 Pages

“She’s gonna make a mess, they’s gonna be a bad mess about her. She’s a jailbait all set on the trigger”. Of Mice and Men show’s George and Lennie’s path to their American dream. They are starting off as laborers in California in the Salina’s Valley and live in a hand-to-mouth lifestyle on a ranch. The novel portrays many male characters than female.

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607 Words | 3 Pages

Curley’s wife, the only main female presented in the novella, is depicted as a harlot. The only other time females are mentioned is when they are mentioned as being ladies in whore houses. This depiction sets the tone for all females presented in the novella. Instead of being seen as a worker, women were mainly seen as man’s companion, and as a symbol for love, lust, and desire. In the novella Curley’s wife’s appearance is described as, “Her face heavily made up.

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913 Words | 4 Pages

In 1920 when the 19th amendment was passed allowing women to vote, many women thought that Gender Inequality was coming to an end. Soon after, the Great Depression happened, and everyone was focused on that. Life for women was especially hard then because they had to live in a world full of poverty and discrimination. Throughout Of Mice and Men we see this through Curley’s Wife. She just wants to fit in and talk to the men without thinking she wants something, or being called rude names.

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384 Words | 2 Pages

Finally, Steinbeck dehumanizes Curley by the negative criticism that always pursues her and her loss of identity when accompanying someone or something. This is why she is always commonly known as “Curley’s Wife”, proving that she is an unimportant and insignificant character in this book. Plus, everybody in the book says that Curley’s wife causes trouble for everyone; as George says, “She’s a jail bait all set on the trigger,” (Steinbeck, 49) and is constantly getting blame for all that goes wrong in Soledad; as Candy says, You God damn tramp. You done it, di’n’t you? I s’pose you’re glad.

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307 Words | 2 Pages

In the book Curley's wife is shown as a pretty woman who is used by men. She wanted to go to Hollywood and become famous, but because she married Curley who lived on a farm she had to stay at home and clean up. In the book they don’t give her a name, they leave her unnamed because in the time period that the book was written women were seen as inanimate objects. They were used for cleaning and taking care of children.

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973 Words | 4 Pages

World of Sexism Due to the Great Depression, women’s rights took a back seat to employment and poverty. It was believed that women shouldn’t work but stay at home, clean, cook, and raise their children. The prejudice against women in the society was great back in the 1930s for they were degraded and underestimated. All the rights they had gained in the 1920s were neglected and the women were once again maltreated. In Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the victim of sexism is Curley’s wife who is so insignifact that even a name was not provided for her.

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