How Is Curley's Wife A Villain

How would it feel to always be considered the villain? Would it be worth to try and convince them that what they say is false? Or continue life knowing the actual truth? In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, one of the characters in the book, Curley’s wife, was often treated as if she was below the ranchers and that she did not deserve their respect. The way she addresses herself is often confused for being flirtatious and/or seductive, when in point of fact, she is just lonely and in need of someone to talk to. She can never have a proper conversation without having people on the ranch act suspicious about her. The ranch hands quite frequently betoken that she is a tart, because of the way she acts and dresses around the ranchers, when she

She will try to engage the other ranchers in conversation, and it is implicit that she is unwilling to give up on trying conversing with someone, no matter if they disrespect her or if she gets frustrated over it. “‘Wha’s the matter with me anyways?’ she cried. ‘Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody? Whatta think i am anyways? You’re a nice guy, I don’t know why I can’t talk to you. I ain’t doin’ no harm to you.’” (5. 87). It is clearly shown that although she will come off as stubborn and blunt when they refuse conversation with her, it is just because she is becoming irritated with the fact that she feels lonely. Her motivation on pursuing a less lonely life, and attempting at becoming friends with any of the ranchers is quite admirable, to say the

Continuously she is being put down by the ranchers and is told consistently that her presence was unwanted on the ranch, even Curley, her husband, would act mentally abusive towards her. Day in and day out, it is assumed that Curley’s wife is being treated this way, and is putting up with this because she feels and/or knows that because she is a woman, she is inferior to them. Albeit her appearance no longer being near the ranchers, nor on the ranch, they will continue to maintain talking rudely about her, George eventually will start to poke fun at her when he only just met her, exclaiming: “‘Jesus, what a tramp,’ he said, ‘So that’s what Curley picks for a wife.’”.