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Loneliness theme in mice and men
How Was Loneliness Portrayed In Mice And Men
Loneliness theme in mice and men
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The arrangement of social structures during the time period Of Mice and Men concurs, known as the Great Depression, results in the inevitable loneliness that some of the characters receive in the end. The Great Depression effected humanity in a negative light. The Great Depression and other time periods prior throughout history were times when no one had equal rights and as a result experienced loneliness due solely to discrimination placed upon them, and based off of certain race, gender, or your own physical/mental capabilities. Crooks, Curley’s wife, and Lennie, an often lonely bunch, don’t gain rights within the social structure of the farm. The only people with exceptional rights throughout this time period can be seen in the commonly …show more content…
The label of tramp, forced on Curley’s wife when she tries talking to the men at the farm, shows the promiscuous manner/view others have of her; rather than a lonely individual looking for company; though constantly looked down upon; she continues following her dream. When Steinbeck writes “‘You God damn 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.’” (Steinbeck 47), it show’s that even though Curley’s wife had just experienced death, she will not even blend in with humanity afterwards, due to hatred towards her female gender. When Steinbeck also writes “Slim stood looking down at Curley’s wife. He said, “Curley—maybe you better stay here with your wife.” Curley’s face reddened. “I’m goin’,” he said. “I’m gonna shoot the guts outa that big bastard myself, even if I only got one hand. I’m gonna get ‘im.’” (Steinbeck 48), it shows that Curley cared more about punishing Lennie and seeking revenge than the loss of his wife. Only viewed as worthless in the eyes of the men at the farm, Curley’s wife valued even less than the dog because at one point the dog brought in profit. The prejudice displayed isolates her resulting in her loneliness. When Steinbeck finally writes “‘Did you see that girl?” “You mean Curley’s girl?’” (Steinbeck 28), you can see that throughout Of Mice and Men, Curley's wife, only referred to as Curley's wife or girl, means that her only significance results from her marriage with
Curley’s wife is an outsider on the ranch, simply because she is the one. only woman there is. Steinbeck never named Curley’s wife. She is defined by her relationship with Curley, as his property, not as an individual. Namelessness also has the effect of reinforcing how insignificant she is in the life of the ranch, how dependent she is on Curley, for her.
In conclusion I believe that Curley’s Wife is a very significant character in the novella because she represents the stereotypical woman and they way she acted, and was treated leads me to feel great sympathy for her despite her flirtatious demeanour. Steinbeck is very successful in creating sympathy throughout her character change and he presents her in this way to prove that the majority of women went through similar situations. This leads us to sympathise with all people society deem to be ‘inferior’ and we can even apply this lesson to today’s society.
Shortly before her death, Curley’s wife shares her life story with Lennie and reveals how she is forced to marry a man she dislikes and give up all hope of achieving her dreams. This is all because she was conned by a boyfriend in the past and now must marry in order to survive. Throughout the novella, she is only known as Curley’s wife and we never learn what her own name is since she is referre...
Curley’s wife shows her sympathetic side when she comforts Lennie after he kills the dog. She tells Lennie, “Don’t you worry none” (87). This quote demonstrates trying to connect with someone on the ranch; in this case it is Lennie. She tells him he is not a bad person and tries to keep his dream of tending the rabbits alive. She also says, “You can get another one easy” (87). This quote shows that she is a compassionate human being despite the constant judgment of her personality. Because Curley’s wife is comforting Lennie, he calms down and starts listening to her. Moreover, despite ...
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.
Steinbeck displays, Curley’s wife as more of an object to the men at the ranch. He conveys this idea through the description of her appearance. When Steinbeck introduces the reader and George and Lennie to Curley’s wife he takes a long time to describe her. “She had full rouged lips and wide spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her finger nails were red “. This quotation suggests that Curley’s wife is an object to men in society and that she is as worth as much as she is wearing. Not only does Steinbeck describe her appearance he also describes her actions when on the ranch and talking to the men. He does this to show the awareness that the men have towards her. “She puts her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward”. A lot of the men on the ranch try to ignore and do not want to start a conversation with her but through Steinbeck’s description of her actions the reader can see that she craves attention from the men on the
Mother Theresa once said, "Loneliness is a man's worst poverty." Without friends and companions, people begin to suffer from loneliness and solitude (Dusenbury 38). Loneliness is an inevitable fact of life and cannot be avoided, as shown prevalent through each of the characters in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. Each and every character in this novel exhibits loneliness. Lennie was isolated for being mentally handicapped, Candy was isolated for being old and disabled, Crooks was for being black, Curley's wife for being a woman, and George for having to care for Lennie and being unable to socialize with others because of Lennie's consistency of getting into trouble from town to town.
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 is a “thin young man with brown face, brown eyes, and a head of tightly curled hair.” Since he is pugnacious, he always pick a fight especially with guys who are bigger than him because he wants to prove his masculinity. Another way to prove himself was by marrying a women, Curley’s Wife. His wife was never given a name to begin with. John Steinbeck indicates that Curley’s Wife is in Curley’s Possession. He tries to isolates her from everyone but she sneaks in and tries to grab attention. Curley is very cocky and because of his attitude, he picks a fight with Lennie, oblivious to the danger he put himself in. Once George allows Lennie to fight back, he crushed Curley’s hand breaking every
Steinbeck also presents another view of Curley’s wife. In his omniscient description [form: overall writing technique] of her, he writes that she ‘bridles a little’ at Lennie’s attention; she is metaphorically shying away from the fixated attention. Steinbeck also unobtrusively mentions that she is a ‘girl’; both these observations suggest her innocence and vulnerability.
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.
Curley’s wife has only been married to Curley for two weeks, but still the men on the ranch already have many negative opinions on her. These opinions and judgements take away from her authority and make her powerless on the ranch. While arguing with Curley about his wife Carlson says, “Whyn’t you tell her to stay the hell home where she belongs. You let her hang around bunkhouses and pretty soon you’re gonna have som’pin on your hands and you won’t be able to do nothing about it” (Steinbeck 62). The way Carlson speaks of Curley’s wife makes her sound like she is a possession, not a human being. This ties back into her not even having a name, but simply being defined by her relationship with Curley. Instead of confronting Curley’s wife about her behaviour, they consult with Curley instead and tell him that he needs to reign his wife in because she is too distracting and unpredictable. They treat her with no respect and it takes away from all of the authority that she should have over them because of her wealth and connection to Curley.
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.
The way Curley’s wife was treated changed the responsibility she had, the views of her, and being alone all the time. In life, women and those who are different aren’t seen as equal. They all have harder lives than the typical man does. Unfortunately, one of the characters who were different was outnumbered and was seen on a lower