How Is Curley's Wife Presented In Of Mice And Men

In John Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men, some characters are presented as weaker than others. This novella takes place During the Great Depression in the 1930s. At this time, money was tight for many and there were few jobs to obtain. People like indentured servants left their homes and families to find employment in the west. It was rare to find men who traveled together at this time. In this book two men, Lennie Smalls and George Milton, venture from their old farm in search of a job on a ranch in California. They end up finding work on a ranch in Soledad, where they would create relationships with other workers on the farm.Early on, Lennie and George meet Curley's wife. Curley's wife was portrayed as hated and inferior. Curley was always

She was always trapped in the house, and Curley never talked to her. In order to get some socialization, she tried to speak to the workers. The workers hated that she was constantly trying to talk to them. The men presumed she was trying to cause trouble; they were afraid they would get into fights with Curley if he found out they had been talking to his wife. Throughout the book, Lennie and George hear about another worker named Crooks but do not meet him until later on because he is isolated due to the color of his skin. Crooks was a stable buck who lived with the horses and not in the regular housing with the white men. During this time, black people regularly had no respect and constantly faced prejudice behavior. Because of the standards at this time, Crooks was powerless and lonely; he was never allowed to play cards with the white men or hang out with them. He is constantly inferior to everyone on the farm because of his skin and is always alone. Although it can be argued that Curley's wife is weak, Crooks is Steinbeck’s most inferior character due to his skin color and the prejudice behavior he faced as an African American in the

Crooks doesn't have the same rights as white men, creating separation between him and much of the world. The racial discrimination Crooks faces makes him very guarded around white people. Crooks does this because he is not used to a white person being kind, and the fact that Lennie is trying to make friends with him confuses and frightens him. He believed all white people were racist and unfriendly towards blacks. This corruption and loneliness led Crooks' social skills to be severely damaged, leading him to be rude when all Lennie wanted to do was to make friends. This is why even if white people greet him with a friendly appearance Crooks still greets them with a defensive tone and has lost most of his social skills. Since Crooks is unable to make friends, he is at risk of being lonely and even depressed; he will never have anyone to be there for him and he doesn't have anyone to go through life with. Another time Crooks' vulnerability is apparent is when Candy, Lennie, and Crooks are hanging out in Crooks' room. When Curley's wife comes by, she asks the men about Curley's hand. When the men tell her repeatedly it got stuck in a machine, she knew they were lying to her, causing her to get upset