Tragedy In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Finally, curley’s wife’s innocence and nativity is presented through her dream and death. From an early age the men in her life consistently let her down, tearing her apart piece by piece. She tells Lennie about a guy who said, “he was gonna put me [her] in the movies.” Like many Americans at the time she believed in the American dream and had a dream of her own. However, unlike George and Lennie hers was shut down and had no possibility of ever happening. It is likely the man who said he would put her in the “pitchers” recognized her profound nativity, telling her what she wanted to hear so she would sleep with him. Steinbeck writes she had “a natural trustfulness” which would perfectly explain why she didn’t see through the man. The dream

Her “ache for attention” emphasized her need for attention was so strong it hurt her. Even in death Curley didn’t care for her, he wanted revenge more for his hand than his wife, dehumanising her as Lulu evoked more emotion when she died. She hurt because her dream was deemed insignificant from the beginning. Dreams give people’s lives meaning and without them life has no purpose. She’s always “heavily made up” as it gives her hope and allows her to cling on to her dream. This is supposed to make her seem vulnerable highlighting her innocence but because of the biased narrator we associate the makeup with the fact she’s a floozy. Curley’s wife is often compared to Eve from the bible for tempting Lennie and manipulating the ranch hands. However, it was Eve’s curiosity and innocent actions that had vast consequences just like Curley’s wife’s curiosity of Lennie. Steinbeck writes, “if anyone […] treated her like a person, she would be a slave to that person.” Lennie showed her kindness, so she satisfied him by letting him touch her dress. She died for innocent reasons allowing the reader to separate themselves from the lens the book is written through, letting them see her for who she is. They recognise the microcosm of society on the ranch and social injustices women were plagued with. For many readers this is too late to adjust their mindset of her because they haven’t