In a society where the focus on equality amongst different races, religions and sexes continues to grow, it is no surprise that literature has begun to follow suit. Publishers have seen a rise in strong, capable female protagonists who overcome a variety of struggles to save themselves or others and both teens and adults alike rush to get their hands on this material. With such popular literary works to choose from, it seems strange that many schools continue to rely on somewhat archaic material that mistreats and degrades so many women. In John Steinbeck 's Of Mice and Men, for example, the only female character the reader interacts with is treated like a lower-class prostitute who is ultimately killed off due to her seductive behavior. Though Steinbeck 's treatment of women comes mainly from classic gender roles, his portrayal of female characters in Of Mice and Men is …show more content…
Two migrant workers, George and Lennie, attempt to reach their version of the American Dream or “the ability of all Americans to attain a better standard of living, including owning a home” (“American Dream” 96). The two men are most concerned with owning “a little house and a couple of acres” and their ability to “live off the fatta the lan’” (Steinbeck 14). Their journey, however, is presented as more challenging than most as Lennie struggles with a mental deficiency and relies heavily on George for both structure and guidance. Each time George and Lennie begin to settle into a job, Lennie makes a mistake causing George to uproot his life and yell at Lennie for how he “Jus’ keep[s] [him] shovin’ all over the country all the time” (Steinbeck 11). Although their quest for happiness and success along with Lennie’s difficulties appear to be the main conflicts of the novel, there is much more below the surface as the two big relocations discussed in the novella come about because of a woman’s
The novel is an exposé of the harsh and vicious reality of the American Dream'. George and Lennie are poor homeless migrant workers doomed to a life of wandering and toil. They will be abused and exploited; they are in fact a model for all the marginalized poor of the world. Injustice has become so much of their world that they rarely mention it. It is part of their psyche. They do not expect to be treated any different no matter where they go.
The title of the novel Of Mice and Men has a unique meaning behind it. The saying “Are you a man or are you a mouse?” has a connection to novel itself but more importantly the characters. Each main character in this novel can be classified as either a “man” or a “mouse”. The “men” seen in the novel are George Milton, and Curley. The “mice” can be classified as Lennie Small and Curley’s wife. The “mice” are represented by the weak or the socially unacceptable characters; the “men” are represented by the strong, independent characters.
Despite the perception that women are inferior and incompetent, seldom do women withstand this consistent discrimination upon their sex. Under the jurisdiction of men in their families, women are oftentimes restrained from opportunity and development. Curley, a man with an intimidating complexion, forces many, including his flirtatious wife, to succumb to his power. However, he fails to recognize his wife’s rising empowerment as she manipulates men around him into becoming her pawns. John Steinbeck’s usage of Curley’s wife in the novel Of Mice and Men delineates the desire of women to eliminate the over dominance of men through deceit in exchange for their own power.
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.
For readers who observe literature through a feminist lens, they will notice the depiction of female characters, and this makes a large statement on the author’s perception of feminism. Through portraying these women as specific female archetypes, the author creates sense of what roles women play in both their families and in society. In books such as The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the roles that the main female characters play are, in different instances, both comparable and dissimilar.
Reading literature, at first, might seem like simple stories. However, in works like William Faulkner's “A Rose for Emily,” Katherine Mansfield's “Miss Brill,” and Kate Chopin's “The Storm,” the female protagonists are examples of how society has oppressive expectations of women simply because of their gender.
First thing I noticed as fantasy was the toad. Not at first, but Winnie kept talking about the frog at the house, then the woods, at the lake, and back at the house when she gave it the “water”. The details of the toad made it seem real. Then at the very end when the toad jumped out in front of the Tucks in the road and almost got ran over by a truck.
In Steinbeck's book Of Mice and Men, he uses minor characters to represent what type of people they are in American society, which all of them are discriminated in some sort of way. Steinbeck uses many motifs from minor characters in the book often, to foreshadow the ideas of darkness and lightness. When Steinbeck writes down these motifs, it helps us know more about characters or their actions they do.
Throughout time, male dominance has been found in many cultures in generation after generation. Sexism existed with that, and was accepted as normal in society. Although women have more equality today, back in 1939 sexism was common in the United States, especially in the South. Women’s rights were few during this time period, which is brought up in Jon Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men. In that novel, sexism hurts Curley’s wife physically and emotionally. The three most obvious acts of sexism seen in the novel are that Curley’s wife was not given a first name by the author, she was labeled a “tart”, and the she was abused by Curley.
When a character does something unexpected or acts in an unusual way, it typically carries significance. Specifically, females are bound to change and break from the stereotypes and roles expected of them. These stereotypes–which have been deeply rooted into society’s culture–and the ways in which female characters differ from or react to them are of main interest to feminist critics. Feminist critics focus on the gender roles and stereotypes present in literature and whether literature reinforces those stereotypes (Siegel). This particular school of literary criticism requires one to “look beyond rigid or stereotypical views of people and strive to value all humans… by emphasizing their unique individuality and importance” (Gillespie 1). These
A mother and daughter, boyfriend and girlfriend, a loser and his Yu-Gi-Oh cards, relationships can be found everywhere; including the novella Of Mice and Men. Of Mice and Men is a realistic fiction novella written by John Steinbeck. Throughout the novella there are several examples of different kinds of relationships which in “Living in Sym” has discussed and explained. Three relationships types found in the novella are mutualistic, quasi-pathogenic, and commensalistic.
The novella focuses on the dream shared by George and Lennie, which emphasizes upon their independence of other people other than each other. In this sense, they appear to be much more capable of fulfilling their American Dream than others. The reception to George and Lennie’s kinship further draws attention to the difference between the partners and the rest of the workforce, putting attention upon their desolated lifestyles and the social (or more appropriately, antisocial) lifestyles of the men of the day (Goldhurst 52). Steinbeck reinforces this idea through repetitive dialogue between the two characters, which stresses upon their relationship: “But not us! An’ why? Because…because I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after
Throughout American Literature, women have been depicted in many different ways. The portrayal of women in American Literature is often influenced by an author's personal experience or a frequent societal stereotype of women and their position. Often times, male authors interpret society’s views of women in a completely different nature than a female author would. While F. Scott Fitzgerald may represent his main female character as a victim in the 1920’s, Zora Neale Hurston portrays hers as a strong, free-spirited, and independent woman only a decade later in the 1930’s.
...present powerful characters, while females represent unimportant characters. Unaware of the influence of society’s perception of the importance of sexes, literature and culture go unchanged. Although fairytales such as Sleeping Beauty produce charming entertainment for children, their remains a didactic message that lays hidden beneath the surface; teaching future generations to be submissive to the inequalities of their gender. Feminist critic the works of former literature, highlighting sexual discriminations, and broadcasting their own versions of former works, that paints a composite image of women’s oppression (Feminist Theory and Criticism). Women of the twenty-first century serge forward investigating, and highlighting the inequalities of their race in effort to organize a better social life for women of the future (Feminist Theory and Criticism).
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is about the adventures of two men, Lennie and George. Lennie has some form of a mental disorder, and George cares for him. George is also a very mean and small man. They go from farm to farm looking for work. They meet new people and one of them becomes a friend. His name is Candy. Lennie's mental issues get him into trouble, causing him to kill another person, and to lose his life. But before all of that, Lennie and George had a dream. This dream strengthened the men and helped them push through. They had something to look forward too. Steinbeck develops the theme that dreams affect people's behavior in the 1930's through different characters.