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John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice And Men'

933 Words4 Pages

Bethany anne
Period 3
Ms lutrell
Feb 5th
John Steinbeck 's classic novella “Of Mice and Men” revolves around the escapades of George Milton and his mentally handicapped friend Lennie Smalls as they try to “make their stake” and “live off the fatta’ the land” (steinbeck, 17) During this short lived scheme, they meet Curley 's wife. Curley 's wife, driven by loneliness, tries to befriend Lennie. This attempt of companionship ends as Lennie panics and snaps her neck in a quick few shakes. She died simply as she lived, nameless and easy. Steinbeck objectifies Curley 's wife to reveal that regardless of a woman 's appearance or drive, she will never achieve her dream.
Curley’s wife is mislead her entire life to believe she is star material, by …show more content…

On George and Lennie 's first night at the ranch, they share gossip with Carlson about curley and his infamous glove. “You seen that glove on his left hand? Well, that glove 's fulla vaseline. I tell ya what- Curley says he’s keepin that hand soft for his wife” (steinbeck 27). Gross or what? This truly displays the very little concern the men have for that woman. Did they point out it was gross? Not really. Who said curley 's wife wanted a soft hand, let alone a hand at all? Being the woman/ wife in the story makes curley 's wife a possession, and inanimate object,and nothing more than. This novella continuously beats the theme that women are objects to be used to the man’s desire and satisfaction into the reader. The statement Steinbeck makes in this novella should be familiar with everyone, but is especially close to the female population. Curley’s wife was not the first, nor is she the last woman to experience objectification and isolation due to her anatomy. Steinbeck displayed the vicious cycle of sexism and how the demands of man conspire against morality of man. Curley’s wife was pretty and sought after by some, but seen as dirty and dangerous to others. Her appearance made her desirable but her resistance in submitting entirely deemed her unattractive or dangerous, just as many real women are

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In such time of the Great Depression and gender equality, this novel presents the character of sexism, Curley’s wife, to show how her dreams has been achieved through death. During her talk with Lennie, she tells him that she “‘[...]never get[s] to talk to nobody [and that she] get[s] awfully lonely’” (Steinbeck 86). Even though she is depicted as a flirtatious, “‘[...]purty [...] bitch’”, her true life was lonely and segregated from the male ranchers (Steinbeck 32). Steinbeck applies this paradox in the story to picture the reader about how a character’s identity can either encourage or ruin his or her reasons to live and achieve a future.

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John Steinbeck’s presents Curley’s wife in a way that comes off as she is being abused. In Of Men and Mice Steinbeck clearly portrays Curley’s wife as a victim and not a villain, as others would see her. She is abused by Curley, mistreated by the other men on the ranch, and she is treated like she does not exist with no respect or value. Curley’s wife is a victim because Curley her husband, abuses and mistreats her.

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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.

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When Lennie is in the barn, he first is petting Curley’s wife’s hair. This suddenly escalates into Lennie putting his hand over her mouth: “she struggled violently under his hands. Her feet battered on the hay and she writhed to be free; and from under Lennie’s hand came a muffled screaming. Lennie began to cry with fright” (Steinbeck 88). Lennie seems frightened of the woman, though he is not the victim.

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The character Curley’s wife is a great example of the need for companionship and how loneliness can change someone. Steinbeck shows the wife’s feelings through her actions. “I could get you strung up on a tree so fast it ain't even funny.” (Steinbeck 81) This quote demonstrates how desperate she is for interaction with others, she was willing to go into Crooks’ room when she knows she is not welcome.

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Curley’s wife tells Lennie about her life and tells him things that she has never told anyone else. She tells him about what she wanted to do with her life, and about how she was unhappy with were she was and who she was around, and she also tells him about how she hates her husband. Lennie tells her about his puppy and how it died, and how he was upset because he thought that George would be mad. He told her about the dream ranch and about how he was going to tend the rabbits and about how he just loved to pet soft things like rabbits and puppies. When Curley’s wife heard this, she told lennie to touch her sft hair.

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Within the letter, he provides insight on the background of Curley’s wife, describing, “She was told over and over again that she must remain a virgin because that was the only way she could get a husband.” (1). In the society of the 1930’s, Steinbeck desired to depict prejudice against women within his writing and clearly executes his plan by giving Curley’s wife an unfortunate background. The only expectations for women during the time was for them to remain virgin and to be physically attractive. These standards demonstrate the fact that women were only seen as sexual objects, attempting to please men for marriage.

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The features of the female experience at the time are the tragic fates of women, being the object of the male gaze, and being cruelly dehumanised by society. Curley’s Wife is a precursor to the infamous “femme fatale”, a testament to the men’s perceptions of her as a temptress, a troublesome wife, and a foil to the ranch. Steinbeck punishes her for verging on the line of flirting with other men and confessing her desires of freedom, financial stability, as well as her enjoyment in doing so while her husband isn’t around, essentially completing his misogynistic characterisation of Curley’s

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Their relationship is far from ideal, with Curley spending a majority of his time attempting to prove his dominance among the other men present on the farm than with his wife. Her perception of this is, “‘Swell guy, ain’t he? Spends all his time sayin’ what he’s gonna do to guys he don’t like, and he don’t like nobody’” (Steinbeck 78). Curley is more focused on inciting conflicts with the workers rather than spending time with the woman he married.

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In the time period that this story takes place women were believed to be lower than men. Hence why her name is just Curleys wife she is his property at that time there for she doesnot need a name. ( Steinbeck 23) This shows that she is not valued as a human being among the others and its not just because Curley doesnt want her flirting with the other guys she is an outcast. Another example of discrimination based on the time period this takes place is Crooks for his

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The Death of The Unborn Female American Dream Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, takes place during the time of The Great Depression; an era extremely difficult for women. The novella contains many iconic characters that serve as a metaphor to our societal standards. Curley’s wife is introduced just like any other; however, the emphasis on her feminine features are metaphoric to where women stand in society. In order to prove that society makes it impossible for certain people to attain The American Dream, Steinbeck objectifies, sexualizes, and kills Curley’s wife to show that women cannot reach The American Dream. Steinbeck uses specific vocabulary to objectify Curley’s wife; alienating her from The American Dream.

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Thus I think that curley is steinbecks way of showing the discrimination against women of the day. Steinbeck portrays curley as a person who is aggressive and full of egoistic only because he is trying to show himself as the strongest to his wife and add to his sexually appeal to his wife and draw her attention, this is clear as he has a glove full of Vaseline. Through these characteristics of curley Steinbeck is trying to show us the stereotypical man during the

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Her “pretty and simple” lifeless body gave readers insight on her true personality (Steinbeck 93). This description relates back to Curley’s wife’s teenage year where she was still young and free. Her death rides her of all stereotypes and assumptions created about her over the time on the ranch. Curley’s wife’s body now resembles her when she was “sweet and young” (93). Her side of this novella comes full circle and takes her back to the time before her dream was crushed.

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