...Curley’s Wife is a character that is always mistreated, misunderstood, and viewed negatively for things that aren’t in her control in the story Of Mice and Men. Firstly, she feels very lonely. She feels lonely, because no one is willing to talk to her. Of Mice and Men states, “Curley’s wife came around the end of the last stall. She came very quietly, so that Lennie didn’t see her” (86). Although she was able to get Lennie to talk to her, she was so desperate and lonely that she had to sneak up on him just so that she could even have a conversation with him. Also, people are scared to be around Curley’s Wife. People are scared to be around her, because of Curley. Curley is her husband and the son of the ranch owner, so he tries to start fights...
Words: 1172 - Pages: 5
...moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them”. Of Mice and Men, a novella by John Steinbeck shows migrant workers hardships during the Great Depression in the United States. The book is set in the 1930’s in the city of Soledad. Curley's wife is the only female character and the faces many challenges throughout the text. Curley’s wife is the loneliest character in the novella because she does not have a name, faces physical separation, and discrimination by the men on the ranch. First, Curley’s wife is the loneliest character because she does not have a name. This is shown by Steinbeck as he portrays women as troublemakers and not useful. So, not giving a name to Curley’s wife adds more insignificance to her in the story. An example of this is shown when Steinbeck was revealing Curley’s wife character as having “full, rouged lips and wide spaced eyes... fingernails were red... her voice had a nasal, brittle quality”(Steinbeck 31). This quote shows that Steinbeck did not even mention her name or any personality traits, this shows that women were perceived as an object and also women back during the Great Depression were seen inferior to men....
Words: 654 - Pages: 3
...Loneliness and isolation; the unfortunate reality of having the slightest chance of success. All people face the provocation of having no one by their side, yet facing a world full of challenges. Every person must fend for themselves in order to achieve the great American dream. In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck shows loneliness and the need for companionship through characters, conflict, and setting. Steinbeck depicts the effects of loneliness through characters in Of Mice and Men. Curley’s wife is possibly the loneliest character demonstrated in the book Of Mice and Men. She says, “I never get to talk to nobody.” (Steinbeck 86) This quote suggests it isn’t just Lennie and George who distance themselves from Curley’s wife; it is...
Words: 664 - Pages: 3
...There are several major themes in the novel, “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck. Themes such as the condition of the working class and friendship. The biggest theme, however, is the American Dream. Steinbeck portrays the theme of the great American dream throughout the book with characters. Characters such as Lennie, George, Curley's wife, and Crooks. The characters of the book represent different styles of dreams. Steinbeck is showing the readers that the American dream is overrated, along with creating unrealistic goals for people. The biggest dream in the novel is the one that is shared between two men, Lennie and George. Their dream is the classic dream of freedom. They want to “live off the fatta the lan’” (page 14), meaning they want their own ranch and animals, along with no rules. However, the dream is very unrealistic for these two specific men. George and Lennie are an odd pair. George is small in size, but not in attitude, with slight anger issues. Lennie is giant-like yet sweet. He is also mentally challenged. So for these pals, their dream is hard to achieve. The reasoning for that is because Lennie usually gets into some sort of trouble, due to the fact that he doesn’t know any better, and making the men leave work. Which means not making money. While George...
Words: 712 - Pages: 3
...in the long run making the popular decision instead of the right decision will eat at a person's conscience. In the novella Of Mice and Men, this quote proves true when looking back on people's decisions when using a psychological lens to analyze the characterization and conflict in Steinbeck's writing. A main theme when looking at Of Mice and Men is the behavior of...
Words: 1510 - Pages: 7
...Quote analysis: Pull directly from quote, connect to topic sentence, connect to thesis. Discrimination in Of Mice and Men All throughout American history, minorities have been mistreated. In the John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, prejudice influences the way the ranchers treat others. Curley’s Wife, Crooks, and Candy are excluded because of gender, race, age, or disability. This bias results in these people feeling lonely and inferior. In Steinbeck’s novella, multiple characters experience alienation due to discrimination by other ranchers. Throughout the novella, Curley’s Wife is isolated from the male workers several times due to her gender. This is portrayed when the men in the bunkhouse argue with Curley about his wife, when they try to avoid Curley’s Wife because they view her as a nothing more than a distraction because they think her beauty is her only valuable characteristic. Carlson says, “Why’n’t you...
Words: 590 - Pages: 3
...Helen Keller, a well known blind and deaf American Author, once said, “True friends are never apart. Maybe in distance, but never in heart.” The realism of this quote is shown throughout the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. John Steinbeck wrote this novella during The Great Depression, a time of great despair and economic decline, where citizens would migrate everywhere to get a job and that is exactly what the main characters, George and Lennie, do in Of Mice and Men. While George and Lennie were staying at the ranch, they met a series of new people, most of them coming in pairs. The character pairs in Of Mice and Men where the readers can see Helen Keller’s wise wisdom ring true is through George and Lennie, Candy and his dog,...
Words: 773 - Pages: 4
...grow smaller, and he pressed himself against the wall. “Yes, ma’m”. “Well you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung upon a tree so easy it ain’t even funny”. (Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men 80-81). This quote shows the power that Curley’s wife has over Crook by influencing his behavior and having the authority to outright Crooks behavior from his social structure. In this case, social power is expanding from physical status. Material power is an additional form of power in Steinbeck’s text. Curley uses privilege as a form of material power, with the ability to control over the ranch because his dad is the boss. “ S’pose Curley jumps a big guy an’ licks him. Ever’body says what a game guy Curley is. And s’pose he does the...
Words: 705 - Pages: 3
...themselves. However, in Of Mice and Men George and Candy work hard all day to get their dream farm but the dream got terminated. In Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck clearly supports the theme that dreams can be taken away in a blink of an eye through the characters of George, Candy and Curley’s wife. George is one example who illustrates the theme that dreams can be taken away in a blink of an eye. George is a small man who travels and takes care of Lennie his best friend. He always speaks about how much better his life would be without Lennie due to his childish actions but he is clearly devoted to him. He had a dream that him and Lennie would get a farm. For example, when George and Lennie were talking George mentioned them getting a farm and Lennie...
Words: 824 - Pages: 4
...Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, is a thrilling novella conveying the hardships migrant workers faced.The story begins with Lennie, a mentally disabled man that physically towers over everyone, and George, an average man, going to work on a ranch. When they reach their farm we learn of Lennie’s past with women and meet the ranch workers. As the story unfolds, the connection between Curley’s wife and Lennie leads to the tragic resolution. Steinbeck writes Curley's wife as a well rounded character that faces discrimination as demonstrated by the lack of female rights and the position of Curley’s wife on the farm. Using the historical lens, the reader can see that...
Words: 854 - Pages: 4
...“The best laid schemes Of Mice and Men often go askew.” is a great quote that sums up Of Mice and Men and is from the poem, To A Mouse. The story, Of Mice and Men takes place in California during the great depression. George and Lennie are farm laborers who are searching for work. The have one dream that propels them forward is to own a house and live off the fatta’ the land. John Steinbeck used many sneaky ways at hinting about future events. He used foreshadowing when the farm dream was dead, when Curley’s wife died and when Lennie died. One way Steinbeck used foreshadowing was with the farm dream being dead, an example of this is when George stops his fantasy. The author states, in doc C, “ Listen to the rain commin’ down on the roof… Nuts! I ain’t got no time for more.” This explains that George...
Words: 583 - Pages: 3
...The book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a novel filled with naturalism. The main characters George and Lennie are going through life during the 1950’s, right after the dust bowl. George is like a big brother to Lennie through the whole novel. This book highlights the hardships of life. The theme of the novel Of Mice and Men is the impossibility of the american dream, because George, Lennie, and Curley’s Wife never reached their dreams. Steinbeck shows the impossibility of the american dream by George, and Lennie never achieving their dream farm. The American Dream of the 1950’s was to be successful, unfortunately none of the characters in this novel achieved that. Lennie is telling George, how they want their dream farm. This takes...
Words: 524 - Pages: 3
...poverty.” In John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, we see that loneliness was an issue even in the era of George and Lennie. At different parts throughout the story, Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s wife all feel lonely and have to face different types of loneliness. Throughout the book, Steinbeck tells us about a somewhat disabled, black man, named Crooks, and shows us his loneliness in the form of discrimination. Crooks shows this loneliness on page 72 by saying,”A guy needs somebody to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you. I tell ya a guy gets too lonely an’ he gets sick.” Crooks, the stable buck, spends his time sitting alone in the stable. Crooks is discriminated, and...
Words: 591 - Pages: 3
...happy. On the other hand, bad relations are created when people are sneaky and selfish, like Curley and his wife. They made bad decisions and are unsympathetic towards each other, which is the opposite of what a loving married couple should do. Being loyal and not putting yourself first is hard, especially as a ranch worker in the book Of Mice and Men. This book takes place in California during the Great Depression. Throughout the book, they show the many problems that workers in general have to face. They also portray the idea of the...
Words: 2088 - Pages: 9
...how you should treat people in society. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Curley’s wife and Crooks get discriminated against because of their sex and race. Prejudice never focuses on the positive effects of being different, but rather the hardships of it all. Sexism is an extreme topic in this story demonstrated through Curley’s wife and how she is treated. For example, Curley’s wife experiences sexism from the men, George says, “Ranch with a bunch of guys on it ain’t no place for a girl, ‘specially like her”(51). This quote exhibits sexism by applying that women cannot cope with the same environment as men. Equally important, the quote displays a lack of respect for women and signifies that men are the inferior sex. In addition, Curley’s wife is stereotyped as a housewife, Carlson states, “Why’n’t you tell her to stay the hell home where she belongs”(62)? This quote presents the stereotypical remark that women are housewives. Further, Carlson’s sexist comment implies that women cannot go anywhere without men and should stay home. Curley’s wife experiences sexism and stereotypes that reduces the power of her role in society....
Words: 384 - Pages: 2