Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Portrayal of women in mice and men
How isolation is a theme in the book of mice and men
How isolation is a theme in the book of mice and men
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Portrayal of women in mice and men
Thomas Carlyle, philosopher, once stated, “Isolation is the sum total of wretchedness to a man.” There is nothing in this world more heartbreaking than the lack of healthy relationships. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, is an insightful story about man-to-man bonds. It is set during the 1930s, when the United States was going through the Great Depression. At this time, everyone, including migrant workers similar to the ones in our story, had difficulties finding secure jobs. This resulted in an attitude of every man for himself. Some of the characters in the story can connect well with others; however, the rest have a hard time fitting in. Slim, the jerkline skinner, is one of the people who can blend in with the other ranch workers. This …show more content…
She is frequently held responsible for numerous problems the men have. Everyone gets annoyed by her, since she constantly wears provocative clothing and flirts with the guys. She is constantly “looking” for her husband, asking around in her nasal, brittle voice, which is irritating in itself. In reality, she just desires attention from the other ranch hands. The problem is that the other men do not want to get in trouble with Curley, who does not like his wife going around with other men. Whit warns George of this in the beginning of the story, saying that she only causes trouble. “ ‘Well--she got the eye.’ ‘Yeah? Married two weeks and got the eye? Maybe that’s why Curley’s pants is full of ants.’ . . . ‘Well, I think Curley’s married. . . a tart’ ”(28). Everyone knows that Curley’s wife is a tart, or a promiscuous woman. Her decision to marry Curley was made extremely quickly, as she wanted to get back at her mother, because she believed her mom stole a letter from her. Because the men do not wish to talk to Curley’s wife, she is often lonely. A reason for this detachment is that she does not know how to approach people, frequently insulting others. The only time she ever conformed was when she talked to Lennie in the barn; however, this conversation was not a true discussion, as Lennie did not comprehend what she was saying. Earlier in the book, she attempted to talk to Candy, Crooks, and Lennie, but all of them wanted her out of the room. “She looked from one face to another, and they were all closed against her. And she looked longest at Lennie, until he dropped his eyes in embarrassment”(78). Curley’s wife felt the most alienated at this point, because even the lowliest on the farm were rising up against her. Candy makes a stand, telling Curley’s wife that they have a place to go to, even if they are canned. Unbelieving, she laughs Candy off. After a while, Crooks even
All through the book Curley’s Wife is very “open” to everyone she meets. The reason for this can be interpreted by her and Curley’s “so-called” marriage. The relationship between Curley’s Wife and Curley seems to be somewhat unstable as he is always asking “Any you guys seen my wife?” (pg. ). This also shows how protective Curley seems to be as he is always checking up on where his wife is. Curley’s insecurity seems to cage in his wife from having any kind of a friendship with any other men. In turn, the wife gets so sick of being isolated like this and relieves her loneliness by conducting secret conversations with many other men on the ranch. As a result many of the ranch hands see her as a tramp but it can be viewed that all she really wants is a person to talk to.
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.
In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses stereotypes and discrimination to convey a message of how the characters feel. A lot of the stereotypes and clichés are just common beliefs of the times, but a few are situational. To quote a quite distinguished reader, "Characters are ‘trapped’- either by what others think of them, or by their situation." A lot of the character’s feelings about themselves and what others think of them will lead to loneliness.
The first impression the reader get´s of Curley´s wife is definitely not a good one. She walks into the scene as if she owned the place, like a person who is confident of herself and well aware of their sexual appeal. The reader can identify that she is not afraid to use her sexual appeal as a weapon to her advantage. “Nobody can blame a person for looking.” She tells to Lennie as soon as she feels his look posed on her body. This is the first words she utters in her first encounter with Lennie. With judgment the reader can infer that she is a person fool of herself and self-centered. These thoughts later get confirmed when the workers call her a “tart”. The reader can now see how the workers behave around her and how they react to the thought of her. It´s not hard to quickly judge her and, like the workers, classify her as a tart and associated her with trouble.
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 was probably one of the loneliest characters of all. She never talked to anyone and she never really liked Curley all too much. “Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely.” (p.86) Curley’s Wife seems to get a lot of the other guys in trouble. Curley always suspects that she’s fooling around with the other men, “Any you guys seen my wife?” (p.53) Curley’s Wife always gives an excuse to confront the guys saying, “Any you guys seen Curley?” Then she tries to hang around and make conversation. The guy’s see her as a tramp and a troublemaker but all she wants is someone to talk too.
Curley?s wife spent her whole life trying to grab attention. She was always labeled and ignored by everyone on the ranch, an example of this is when George tells Lennie that she was troubled and to stay away from her. Curley?s wife was ignored and used from early on, when she was given false intentions on being a movie star.
Curley’s wife could be considered an outcast in society. Women were not supposed to be adventurous, talkative, and mischievous; she was the opposite of what women were supposed to be in society. Every member on the ranch seen her as trouble and
Extreme isolation in the form of solitary confinement is known to have devastating effects on the mind, having a strong effect on how people treat others. Unfortunately, this sense of loneliness can often manifest in negativity towards others. In Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men, characters often bring down others as a result of their own isolation. This isolation results in a man using his power to unfairly hurt his workers, a discriminated against worker taking advantage of a mentally-disabled man, and a dissatisfied woman cruelly insulting a lower class worker.
"Were born alone we live alone die alone. Only through love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that were not alone” Orson Welles. In this novel, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck focuses on the loneliness of California ranch life in the 1930’s. One of the most important things in the life is to have a friend, without friends people will suffer from loneliness like in this novel, not everyone in the novel has the same connection and special friendship like George and Lennie’s. Of Mice and Men is the story about lonely men who travel from ranch to ranch not really communicating with other ranch hands. Candy, Crooks and Curley’s wife all were lonely and dealt with their loneliness in different ways.
Curley’s wife’s femininity may be seen as her greatest weakness or flaw to most, but she rapidly discovers that it is also her only weapon on the ranch and learns to use it to her advantage. Therefore, she puts up an alluring and sultry front in an attempt to receive attention, because she is aware that none of the men on the farm respect her because of her position as a woman. The men's blatant lack of respect for her belittles the miniscule amount of power she has acquired
Curley’s wife is probably the most loathed on the ranch. The way she looks and acts leads other characters in the novel to see her as a “tart”. George makes his opinions clear just after he first met her “Jesus, what a tramp”, and “So that’s what Curley picks for a wife”. She just wants some one to talk to. Males on the ranch don’t like her because they think she will get them into trouble. They make judgments without getting to know her first. They judge a book by its cover. Curley, her husband doesn’t trust her with the other ranch hands. She was just out of place on the ranch, and because of that, must have been a really lonely person with lonely feelings.
‘Of Mice and Men’ is based on the experiences of a migrant farmer, set in 1930’s America. The characters are also symbolized as realistic people, but influenced by the issues and circumstances based on the Wall Street crash, the American Dream and being set after WWI. I empathies for these characters for the consequences of these historical events are what to have made ‘Of Mice and Men’ a tragedy in relation to loneliness.
She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaces eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages. She wore a cotton house dress and red mules, on the insteps of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers” (31). However, it is later discovered in the story that she is searching for innocent company with the men to make up for the little attention she gets from Curley. The men don’t want to get into trouble with Curley so they choose to avoid Curley’s wife at all costs. She doesn’t understand why the other men on the ranch don’t accept her offers when she tries to carry on conversations with them, so she dresses and makes herself up this way to keep her audience’s attention. Even after she passes away, Curley’s wife still exerts more power than some men on the ranch by stealing all of their dreams too: "You g** d*** tramp," he said viciously. You done it, di'n't you? I s'pose you're glad. Ever'body knowed you'd mess things up. You wasn't no good. You ain't no good now, you lousy tart"
After a short conversation with the farmworkers where she asked if they knew Curley’s location, George called her a tramp or basically a woman who has sex often. It is later revealed during her conversation with Lennie that she truly wants to talk with someone, that she feels lonely and that she isn’t only a pretty woman to look at. However, after her first conversation with George, he already thinks of her as the stereotypical woman who would have sex with anyone. No one in the whole ranch thinks seriously of Curley’s wife, which is why she is the symbol for sexism in the