Curley's Wife Sexism

“Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don’t belong no place” (Steinbeck 13). The key to human sanity is belonging. Today, our transversal world makes it simple to find acceptance; however, in the 1930’s, Americans were faced with an additional challenge of the Great Depression. During this era, Americans endured an economic breakdown, unruly weather conditions, and eroding farmlands. America was still recovering from World War I and Civil movements, therefore making it a beggared, racist environment. Consequently, many men known as migrant workers scoured the United States looking for work; they were isolated from a home and a sense of worth. Along with isolation comes an overwhelming

For their whole lives, they face the reality that they were “low status” in society’s eyes. They grew up under their father's law, then given away as property to their husband. Men saw women as inferior, and that they should stay home occupying their time with house chores. Steinbeck illustrates these sexist practices by referring to the flirtatious, manipulative woman as “Curley’s wife”. When she is identified as Curley’s wife, it affects the audience’s impression that she is unimportant because her name was never revealed. In other words, she is being stripped of her self worth. However in reality, she was a crucial character in the story, who also faced mental and physical disputes contributing to the theme of loneliness. Curley and his wife took part in a standard unbalanced relationship. Even though she appears to be well off and powerful, she is actually under Curley’s conditions: To never leave the house. “Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever’ once in awhile? Think I like to stick in that house alla time?” (77). Curley isolated his wife from the other men, and the outside world. Without a sense of reliance or purpose, Curley’s wife was dehumanized and lonely. However, Curley’s wife does everything she can to resist the isolation Curley had put upon her. For instance, she often ventures out of the house when Curley’s away to find some company. However, her will to engage with the men only push them further away from her; “Maybe you better go along to your own house now. We don’t want no trouble” (77). Throughout the story, she had been repulsed by the men due to her tempting looks and actions. She is portrayed as a young woman who wanted to spread drama between the ranch workers, when truthfully she wanted a person to fulfill her emptiness of a companion. The men never truly understood this: “You gotta husban’. You got no call foolin’ aroun’ with other guys, causin’ trouble” (77).