Of Mice And Men Curley's Wife Analysis
John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men follows two migrant farmers and their experiences working towards their dream. The story takes place in the Salinas Valley during both the Dust Bowl and Great Depression, when jobs were few and far between. George and Lennie have a dream of owning land, which is inhibited by these conditions. On the farm they come to work on, they meet the sultry wife of the Curly, the boss’ son. She was deprived of achieving her dream or stardom, and is left constantly craving attention in any way she can get it.
The death of Curley’s wife is a very shocking event which is what triggers George’s decision to shoot Lennie. She does nothing wrong and without noticing Lennie kills her; just how he killed the mouse and the puppy killed the puppy. Curley’s wife’s death is a tragedy and symbolizes Lennie’s untroubled life coming to an end. Even though Lennie is not a bad person after the death of Curley’s wife, we can no longer think of him as an innocent child-like person. George and Lennie’s life was about survival, but centred on the innocent dream of the rabbits.
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.
The author, however, drops hints throughout the book telling his audience that there may be more to Curley’s wife than what is easily deduced. One scene involving a sympathetic portrayal of Curley’s wife is when she is looking for Curley in Crooks’ quarters after Lennie and Candy enter. She knows where Curley and the rest of the men have gone, and grows angry at the cold shoulder treatment she is given by the three men in the room. Curley’s wife confesses her loneliness of being stuck in the house all the time and to not liking Curley’s company. The men in the room take this as flirting rather than seeking friendship and someone to confide in.
Curley’s wife is a complex character that is portrayed as a flirtatious, lost, and naïve woman in the novel, ‘Of Mice and Men’. Throughout the novella, Curley’s wife is engrossed in her own beauty, eventually leading to the inevitable death by letting Lennie touch her hair. Steinbeck doesn’t give Curley’s wife a name in the novel showing that she’s insignificant yet she holds the important role of being a danger to Lennie. She does have a particular role in the novella and is presented as the trophy wife of Curley.
The novella Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, tells of the story of how individuals were alienated during the Great Depression, including an unnamed farm wife married to a man named Curley. She is simply identified as “Curley’s wife.” Being the only woman on the farm has caused her to be a sexualized object, have a great sense of loneliness, and feel that she will never live up to her dreams. The characterization, actions, and treatment of Curley’s wife depicts how women were kept from achieving their own American Dream in the sexist society of the 1930s. Through the characterization of Curley’s wife a reader can see that she is sexualized, desires to be dominant, and has suffered throughout her life.
Confirmation bias is heavily evident in Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck, though it is best seen through Curley’s wife. Before she is even introduced, Steinbeck (through his characters’ dialogue) paints a picture of an unfaithful, promiscuous woman who habitually flirts with different men (outside of her husband). One of the first mentions of her is while Candy is talking to George and Lennie. He says, “Well - she got the eye. [...] I seen her give Slim the eye.
My Grandfather lost his leg to diabetes a few years ago. He hasn’t been able to do much since it happened. I understand it was probably his fault that he didn’t recover the best, but I still feel sorry for him. Seeing him having to give up his business destroyed me, no more 4 a.m. Saturday mornings in the big truck delivering produce to Chuck ‘E’ Cheese’s and getting free cotton candy and tokens.
This shows that men and women should be equally treated, regardless of your gender. One example of a person who is treated unequally because of their gender is Curley’s wife, a character in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. Curley’s wife is the only woman on the ranch and is isolated. Her husband, Curley, is never with her and does not respect her. No one wants to talk to her or be around her since she is a woman.
Curley’s wife, although seen as a sort of antagonistic figure, is not really the villain of the story. When she is first introduced,
In Steinbeck’s book, Of Mice and Men, Curley's wife didn’t receive a name, or a title other than “Curley’s wife”. This shows that John Steinbeck thought of her as less than Curley and the other characters, who mostly were male, not only dominating the world of work, but literature as well. Curley’s wife was left vulnerable not only due to her gender, but her poverty level. Some people explain misogyny as a term that it is difficult to spell and effortlessly easy to practice. Steinbeck demonstrated and verified this quote, as he was a fantastic author, yet he used incorrect grammar, which some discredit him for, and he was seen as sexist.
The topic of Bacon’s Rebellion has been heavily debated for centuries and is filled with much controversy. Bacon’s Rebellion, 1676-1677, was an uprising of the settlers in the colony of Virginia against the Natives and the governor (Rice 1). The settlers believed that the government was doing too little to protect them from Indian attacks. The leader of the rebels, Nathaniel Bacon, demanded a commission to fight the Natives and clashed with Governor Berkeley on several occasions when he was refused the commission (Stanard 75-80). Eventually, the tension became so intense that Bacon burnt Jamestown, the capital of Virginia (Rice 11).
Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men, is a classic demonstration of sexism, as well as misogyny. Set in the 1930s, when these views were “normalized”, the author relates these issues primarily in the description of Curley's wife. You can identify the sexism Curley's wife faces daily by analyzing the words of George, one of the main characters of the book. He says “ranch with a bunch a’ guys on it ain't no place for a girl” (Steinbeck), George means this in a clearly offensive way, by using the word “girl” instead of “woman”, this could mean he doesn't respect her, or find her on the same level as himself, and belittles her.
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.
The death of family and friends is something that everyone deals with at some point in their life, and something that everyone deals with in a different way. It can teach a person valuable lessons about life and relationships. It can also change the outlook we have on life, and the deaths of two students in my high school this past year did just that. Towards the end of my junior year, I was sitting in my high school commons as I did every morning, when word started to spread that a senior in my school, named Jack, had collapsed at our local community center the night before. Jack was an acquaintance of mine that I had known better when I was younger, but we had not crossed paths in quite some time.
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