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Use of imagery in the pearl by John Steinbeck
How does steinbeck present curleys wife as a good or bad character in ‘of mice and men’
How does steinbeck present curleys wife as a good or bad character in ‘of mice and men’
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Recommended: Use of imagery in the pearl by John Steinbeck
Steinbeck's novel 'Of Mice and Men' explores the everyday lives of migrant workers during the Great Depression. In this era, American men were forced to leave their families and become 'drifters'. These were people who didn't have a fixed job and continually moved from place to place. 'Of Mice and Men' is based around two main themes; loneliness, and the fragility of dreams. Each main character connects with both of these themes at some stage throughout the novel. Curley's wife is no exception to this. At the beginning of the novel the reader views her as an unpleasant, naive and troublesome character. However, as the novel progresses, the reader is gradually exposed to another side of Curley's wife, one that suggests she is merely a woman that is lonely and dissatisfied with her life. The reader is first introduced to Curley's wife through Candy, when George and Lennie first come to the ranch. Despite being married for two weeks, Candy states that Curley's wife has "got the eye" and that he has "seen her give Slim the eye". This implies that Curley's wife is not happy with her mar...
In John Steinbeck’s book Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck portrays Curley’s wife as a flirtatious, mischievous, and over all isolated woman. Steinbeck doesn’t give this character a name, yet she is one of the most important characters in the story. Curley’s wife first comes off as flirtatious to the main characters, George and Lenny, when they first hear about her from the character Candy . Candy is talking about how she gives men “the eye”. He also displays his feelings about her by saying, “Well, I think Curley’s married… a tart”(28). This is setting George and Lenny up to expect she is a flirt.. Steinbeck describes Curley’s wife in her first introduction as a scantily dressed woman.. Steinbeck writes, “Both men [George and Lenny] glanced up, for the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off. A girl was standing there looking in. She had full, roughed lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled cluster, like sausages. She wore a cotton house dress and red mules, on the insteps of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers”(31). The color red is sometimes considered for portraying a sign of danger or sex. This passage supports Curley’s wife as being flirtatious and also how she’s dangerous and can cause trouble displaying herself while she is married. Also, when George and Lenny are talking to Curley’s wife she tries to flirtatiously talk to them too. After their first conversation she re-adjusts herself. Steinbeck displays her with “She put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward”(31). Steinbeck is explaining to the reader in detail that Curley’s wife is trying to show herself to Lenny and George to get thei...
“Nobody’d listen to us” (81) exclaims Crooks when talking about being ignored. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck illustrates the characters Curley’s wife, Crooks, and Candy experiencing loneliness and isolation while living on the ranch. These characters attempt to socialize, succeeding and failing. Loneliness and isolation of the characters results in yelling, bullying, and even a broken neck.
The novel Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, contains many characters that would significantly change the plot if they were not there to be in it. One of these characters is Curley. Curley is a minor character who plays a large role. He is like the bully of the story and is the cause of many of the events that take place on the ranch. There are multiple ways that the story would change if Curley was non-existent.
In the novel Of Mice and Men Steinbeck creates a character which is different from the rest of them, on which the reader might have a strong opinion about, differing from beginning to end. Curley´s wife switches from being classified as an antagonist of the novel, to just a fragile women with a hopeless dream.
How does the reader’s perception of Curley’s Wife change through the book? In Of Mice and Men the reader’s opinion of Curley’s Wife changes throughout the book, in the beginning of the book the reader looks at her as trouble. Near the end the reader starts to feel sympathetic towards her. Although all the characters look at her as a “tramp”, despise, and avoid her, the reader sees her differently. The reader sees how miserable she is, and how many other things she has to put up with everyday. She might not be the nicest person out there, but she is still a person with feelings. The reader’s feelings drastically change from the beginning of the book to the end. She is perceived negatively repeatedly throughout the book, by all the characters at many different times. She is known as the “tramp” at the ranch, the reader would obviously think negatively of Curley’s Wife when all the characters are talking trash about her. In chapter 2 George said to Lennie “I seen ‘em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her. You leave her be.” After reading this how could the reader see Curley’s Wife in any other way. As the reader I also despised Curley’s Wife, I didn’t want her to get close to Lennie or George because I knew she would try and get them in trouble or something bad would happen with her being there. This quote specifies how almost every man felt on this ranch, and this was very early on in the book, George had not even had a decent conversation with her and he was already talking about her in this way. This was not only in the beginning of the book; at the scene of her death Candy was shouting “you got damn tramp” at her dead body. This shows even when she is dead, how little everyone cared about her. The r...
Curley's wife is seen as a cheap possession, a toy that belongs to Curley. A possession that he gets to control. His lack of love, respect and attention results to her death in the end. By all the men she’s seen as a tramp, they think that she’s out cause trouble. But the truth is she’s desperately lonely. She just wants someone to talk to. She’s missed out on a wonderful life that could have been hers, and that hurts her.
Curley’s wife is given a reputation of causing trouble between other characters from different characters in the novel. There is no evidence of her living up to all of the reputation in the novel. Candy says “Well she got the eye” which could have many meanings and then he backs that up with “I seen her give Slim the eye” and finally he says “Well I think Curley’s married…a tart.” This explains his views on Curley’s wife. And when she dies he calls her a ...
The first time we hear about Curley’s wife, Candy defines her to George using expressions such as “she got the eye” he then goes on to describe her as looking at other men before eventually calling her a “tart”. The words used have a negative connotation and already, the audience develop a bias judgement of Curley’s wife as “… a tramp” and George also articulates his own prejudices based on how Candy describes her by calling her “Jailbait”. The fact that Candy uses very simplistic, conversational expressions could indicate lack of academia and ownership of language, whereby in the 1930’s (when the novella was set) many people in America at this time weren’t fortunate enough to have had parents that could afford to send them to school. So many people like Candy with little or no literacy skills had to do manual labour ranches or in mines. Without little or no education, men of this era were closed-minded and ignorant. This way Curley’s wife is described could also reflect the historical context of the novella. During this era, women often depended on men for survival and it wasn’t uncommon for women to get married at a young age, like Curley’s wife did for social security. Because of this, women were regarded as functionary, property, a trophy therefore, abused and degraded by their misogynistic
As a man with intelligence equivalent to that of a child and a tremendous, intimidating presence, Lennie is viewed by characters in Of Mice and Men in a variety of perspectives.
Kelly may be considered a feminist because of his clever manipulation of the female characters in DNA. The initial portrayal of these women instantly causes the audience to view them with contempt. A prime example of this is the way Leah is presented as an attention seeking female who results to violence when all else fails. However later on in the play, we are shown how she has adopted this violent nature as a result of her incapability to deal with the situation in any other way. She has become prone to violence and can no longer control her actions. The quote “What would you do if I killed myself”, the repetition of the rhetorical question shows her insecurity, lack of confidence and the constant need to be reassured. This emphasises this
The first description of Curley’s Wife states that she gives multiple ranch workers “the eye” despite being “married two weeks.” From this we can instantly deduce that she is somewhat of a “tart” however if we evaluate further this could explain that she is lonely and not content with her new husband. The fact that she is giving other ranch workers “the eye” despite being married makes us feel no sympathy for her and instantly portrays her as endeavouring and potentially dangerous, although, on the other hand we can understand her restriction by Curley which makes us feel sympathy.
Comment on how the character of Curley’s wife is portrayed in Sinise’s. 1992 television film version of "The Thriller" How is this characterization different? to that of the original novel by Steinbeck? Introduction The “Of mice and men” by Steinbeck was written in the 1930’s during the period. great depression Era which came about as a result of the Wall Street crash.
Steinbeck uses possessive apostrophe to present the character of Curley’s wife as an object. Every time she is mentioned, she is referred to as ‘Curley’s wife’ rather than a name. This makes the reader think that she has no identity because a name is what contributes to your identity. Also, she is considered as having no voice because the other men say that she is a ‘looloo’ and gossip about her. This makes the reader feel sympathy towards Curley’s wife because she has no view of her own and cannot be recognised as a person. In the 1930’s, women were considered as housewives and were to stay within the house and obey their husband and Steinbeck has chosen to follow the stereotype of the 1930’s because women weren’t accepted in society which was male dominated.
The character of Curley’s Wife is very hard to unravel, as throughout the book, Steinbeck’s representation of women through characters such as George and Candy, is very harsh. This is because the sociological opinion at that time was that they were either, mothers, sisters, or prostitutes, as the audience soon see, George and other ranch workers refer to her as “bitch” “loo loo” and “tramp”. There were also a growing number of prostitutes during the Great Depression period, as they would offload their services to those whom were able to pay and have some decent income during the Depression. Other aspects that may make Curley’s Wife seem like a tart, is Curley’s “Glove Fulla’ Vaseline”. Curley literally keeps a glove full of Vaseline, in order to keep his hand soft, possibly for a sexual act. Curley boasts to Candy that the hand is for his wife, which tells us that she gives him consent to do these acts to her, and also, Curley’s nerve to inform fellow workers about his glove shows that he believes that his own wife is a tart, which is very controversial today, but back then, women were seen as nothing more than possessions, yours to do what you will. George informs Lennie to avoid Curley’s Wife at all costs, and not to talk to her, because of her promiscuous behaviour, he believes t...
Curley’s wife is a complex, main character in John Steinbeck’s novella, “Of Mice and Men”. She is introduced as an insignificant secondary character, but evidently posses the importance of causing the end of the novella. Despite the weight of her role, her value is hindered because of the culture towards women in the 1930s. Steinbeck uses imagery, foreshadowing, and metaphors to show loneliness analyzed through a Feminist Lens.