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First impression of curleys wife in mice of men
First impression of curleys wife in mice of men
Essay on how curley's wife in presented in the novel of mice and men
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"Power is two kinds. One is obtained by fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent then the one derived from fear of punishment- Mahatma Gandhi," Curley's Wife thinks she has so much power over everyone else that she leaves them in fear to get in trouble but in reality she just wants to be loved and famous. Of Mice and Men, book written by John Steinbeck, the confusing story to Curley's Wife and all the people's lives she's encountered as she tries to figure out who herself really is and still has a small piece of inspiration in herself of wanting to be who she really is. But there's always something that happens and gets in the way. Through the character of Curley's …show more content…
Wife, John Steinbeck shows that issues outside the control of an individual often limit the achievement of her dreams. Curley’s Wife is a “tart or scavenger” for men when she first goes to “find” Curley but actually talks to Slim, George, and Lennie in the bunkhouse.
Curley’s wife is also trying to make herself appear more “attractive” by wearing all red to stand out so the men will think as her more “attractive” so they’ll see her more often because she stands out. “Both men glanced up, for the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off. A girl was standing there looking in. She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails re. 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. “I’m lookin’ for Curley”, she said. Her voice had a nasal, brittle quality” (Steinbeck 31). This shows how much Curley’s Wife is a “scavenger” for men by going to talk to and see George, Lennie, and Slim for no reason at all and that she lies about “looking for Curley”. All she wants to do is be with other men because she eventually leaves and then Curley comes in the bunkhouse trying to find her. Even though she’s sneaking off with any of the men around the …show more content…
ranch. As for "hooking" up with other men, it shows she still wants to be in pictures or movies like she was told.
All she really wants is for everybody to see, love, and adore her. So of her to feel loved or adored, she goes around the ranch trying to get all of the men to like her or see her more often and want to be with her. "She went on with her story quickly, before she should be interrupted.'Nother time I met a guy, an' he was in pitchers. Went out to the Riverside Dance Palace with him. He says he was gonna put me in the movies. Says I was a natural. Soon's he got back to Hollywood he was gonna write to me about it.' She looked closely at Lennie to see whether she was impressing him. 'I never got that letter,' she said. 'I always thought my ol' lady stole it. Well I wasn't gonna stay no place where I couldn't get nowhere or make something of myself, an' where they stole your letters. I ast her if she stole it, too, an' she says no. So I married Curley. Met him out to the Riverside Dance Palace that same night.' She demanded, 'You listening'?" (Steinbeck). Curley's Wife had her own plans and thoughts on what she wanted and so she told Lennie, hoping to have someone listen to her at least once because she was tired of being alone with nobody to talk to. As Curley's Wife wanted to explain herself as is that she considers herself special, special as in
picture /movie girl. All Curley's Wife wanted was to live her great dream of being in pictures and movies but that will never happen for her, for she had been killed by Lennie. She never knew it would happen and nobody else knew, she decided to do something of her own choice be something she would never control and end her in disaster. Curley's Wife was a player but also was sensitive because she wanted all the men to love her but told Lennie about jobs she could've have. She doesn't have anything else to look forward too because she will never do anything again. It's both sad but helps her in her case because she always was sneaking around "seeing" other men on the ranch, so Curley always got mad at her. But now since she's "gone" no one will be mad at her (especially Curley) for anything she has ever done wrong. Curley's Wife may look sweet and innocent but that's not always the truth, especially with girls like Curley's wife.
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...
...r say anything. So she is stuck at a ranch where all the members there avoid her because she is trouble and can’t even run away because of her being a female in the early 1900’s made it almost impossible to survive on her own. She dresses a certain way to live out the American Dream the only way she can. She doesn’t dress that way to show off her body, she wants to feel like she is living her dream. She realizes that she is good looking and she uses that to her advantage to talk to some of the people at the ranch like Lennie. The only way she got to talk to Lennie was by letting him touch her hair. Steinbeck let Curley’s Wife die in such a peaceful way; I didn’t even realize she was dead until I read over the section multiple times. He left her there in the barn describing her beauty, showing the reader through Curley’s Wife that even the worst of us have humanity.
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 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.
Steinbeck describes Curley's Wife as a very friendly young women. For example, when Steinbeck describes her when she says, “She put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward” (31). When reading this, one can learn that Curley’s Wife is a very friendly women who is just looking for someone to talk to. She is forced to live on the farm and needs to find something to do, or someone to talk to while she is stuck there.
Curley's wife, comparable to most other characters in the novel, is a type of character with little discrepancy, moreover being the only woman in novel. Curley’s wife is demonstrated by her position and part. This part is however, being a possession of Curley or a wife. She is heavily insulted and looked upon as inferior: George and Candy call her "jailbait" and "tart", which supports the fact that he has no voice and as a matter of fact, no name – simply being referred to as Curley’s wife. Due to her lack of power, she attempts to gain it by leeching off those with power. This leeching is portrayed as her seducing the other men on the ranch who have large presence like Slim: “Hi Slim” supports a casual and somewhat flirtatious approach to the other men. She seduces other by wearing far too much makeup and dressing like a "whore" with “red fingernails” and red shoes with ostrich feathers.
From her first appearance in the story, Curley’s wife is described as a different kind of threat, one who is all artifice and manipulation from her red lips and fingernails to her red mules, “on the insteps of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers” (Steinbeck 31). The imagery Steinbeck uses, paints her as a woman who is quite bold, but fragile with a passionate essence.
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 a difficult character to understand. Steinbeck hasn’t named her; this could be for a number of reasons. He may have wanted her to be seen as lonely therefore not naming her shows no one gets close enough to her to call her by her first name. He may have done it to show the other characters only see her as the wife of Curley rather than an individual. He may also have done it to show the male attitudes towards females. Curley’s wife also helps to provoke mixed emotions in the reader. We often feel sorry for her such as when she talks of her loneliness, but on other occasions the reader can find her cold hearted. This is seen when she is racist towards the other characters.
“Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody.” (Steinbeck, 86). In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Curley’s wife is an outcast compared to the men. Being female, she cannot do what the men can. This novel was based in the 1920’s, a time where women weren’t allowed to do certain, almost all, things. She was not allowed to talk to anyone because she was seen as a threat. Her treatment was caused by how men viewed her. This all affected her responsibility, the views of her as a woman, and her loneliness.
Curley’s Wife is no exception to this belief of Steinbeck’s. Always wanting to be an actress since a young age, her dreams have been shut down on multiple occasions, mainly by her mother. “I met one of the actors. He says I could go with the show. But my ol’ lady wouldn’ let me. She says because I was on’y fifteen. But the guy says I coulda. If I’d went, I wouldn’t be livin’ like this, you bet.” -(Pg. 88). Being a hopeless dreamer, Curley’s wife dreams of a better life, a life where she weren’t lonely and despised by the men of the ranch. Even with her being married, it made no difference. Curley didn’t provide any love or affection to his wife. Unfortunately her loneliness is was lead Curley’s wife to her demise. All she wanted was a friend, and in the end, she never got one.
To get a more detailed look at the way Curley's Wife is portrayed I researched about how all women were treated in the 1930's. They weren't equal and had fewer rights then men, they were paid less and most of them were only ever allowed to do domestic chores. Women soon realised how submitted they were to men, so they began creating ideas on how they could improve their lives and gain more independence. Curley's Wife is the "average women" at the time, she wants to depend less on her husband; she feels secluded and miserable, and is an isolated character as she is the only female
In the novel “Of Mice and Men”, John Steinbeck present the character of Curley’s wife as person who is frustrated with her life and lost all her wishes to become movie star. Curley’s wife is one of the characters in the novel who signifies the loneliness of people in America in 1930s at the time of depression.
While Curleyś wife is talking to the boys in Crookś room she tells them about her dream, ¨I coulda went on with shows, not just one neither. An a guy told me he could put me in pitchers”(78). She never wanted to live on a farm alone with nothing to do. She wanted to be in shows and make money. However, we learn he mother told her she was too young. Later in the story, she was telling Lennie about why she married Curley, “Well, I wasn’t gonna stay no place where I couldn’t get nowhere or make something of myself, an’ where they stole your letters, I ask her if she stole it, too, an’ she says no. So I married Curley. Met him out to the Riverside Dance Palace that same night”(87). She “don’t like Curley”(89). Because “he ain’t a nice fella”(89). Curley's wife sacrificed her happiness to be somewhere where she could make something of herself.
Curley’s Wife is a character that, ironically, her loneliness causes her to become more alone, due to her actions. She asks Lennie, “Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely” (86). Curley’s Wife craves attention. Due to this, she carries herself in a manner which the men disrespect. Her obvious desire for the love, affection, and conversation that Curley is depriving her of is off-putting to anyone who meets her. Candy scolds her saying, “You gotta husban’. You got no call foolin’ aroun’ with other guys, causin’ trouble”