What Are The Similarities Between Of Mice And Men And Curley's Wife

In the mid to late 1920s, white men lived their most fulfilling lives wondering how anyone could view this country as anything less than great. Of course, it's easy for the oppressors to wonder how anyone could feel oppressed. Black folks and women in the 1930s were living lives under the control of white men in America, and they demanded change. Pieces by John Steinbeck and Judy Brady outline some of the issues women faced and still face in their writings; Of Mice and Men and "I Want a Wife". Characters such as Curley's Wife and the women in the cathouses in Of Mice and Men are purposefully written as they are to show how men truly thought of women at the time. Judy Brady explains the roles that women were forced to be responsible for. Much

Readers may ask, "What's her name?". In response, Steinbeck would respond that she is not given a name to symbolize that she gave up her autonomy and personality when she married Curley, similar to women taking a man's last name as their own in marriage. She is not herself anymore, merely Curley's wife. When she is first introduced in the novel, the readers are shown George's perspective of her, which in turn may make the audience agree with him. Although George scolds Lennie to stay away

Who could've thought? The readers also discover that she wants someone to talk to other than her husband, considering he keeps her inside all day. Curley's wife tells Lennie that she honestly doesn't like her husband at all and had aspirations of her own before she met him. As is often seen in traditional marriages of this time, she was forced into the role of a housewife who stays inside all day while Curley takes care of the "heavy lifting". Of Mice and Men successfully outlines how women were treated in this era through the writing of John Steinbeck. This theme of forced gender roles in relationships carries over into other works such as "I Want A Wife" by Judy Brady. Readers are not meant to think that she truly wants a wife but to know that she is talking about the concept of a wife in a marriage. Brady writes from her perspective as a wife and expresses her desire to be cared for in the same way wives are often told to care for their husbands. Women in the time that she wrote this piece were expected to stay home, cook for their husbands, clean for their husbands, and take care of children on top of everything else.