Of Mice And Men Curley's Wife Analysis

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Everyone has a handicap, there’s something inside of everyone that either physically or mentally holds them back. Crooks? He’s black. Lennie? He’s retarded. Candy? He’s old. All of these are few of the countless handicaps John Steinbeck put onto his characters when writing Of Mice and Men. One “handicap” in particular separates a character from all of the rest, arguably putting her at the bottom of the totem pole. Curley’s Wife, her handicap being the only female on the farm. In the 1930’s, this outweighs every handicap by leaps and bounds. Depriving her of rights, outcasting her from society, and stripping her of her American Dream are few ways Curley’s Wife has it the worst in the novella. But as shown countless times, Curley’s Wife’s biggest handicap is her gullibility.
Women’s role in the 1930’s was quite simple, do as told by the man. No more, no less. This simple role snatched the rights of women right before their eyes, reducing them to just a maid beckoning to man’s …show more content…

But this is all taken away from her at a young age. Curley’s Wife’s Mom shut down Curley’s Wife’s dream long before Curley could ever imagine to. When offered a show spot by an actor that had been coming through, Curley’s Wife’s Mom immediately refused the offer, leaving Curley’s Wife to do nothing but watch it vanish before her own eyes. “A show come through, an’ I met one of the actors. He says I could go with that show. But my ‘ol lady wouldn’t let me. She says because I was only fifteen. But the guy says I coulda went. If I’d went, I wouldn’t be livin’ like this, you bet.”(88). Though only a small flashback on Curley’s Wife’s past, it has a huge impact on how the viewer sees her. Curley could’ve gone off and lived her real American Dream, she could’ve went big and never had to look back. But this was all taken away from her, all because she's a

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