Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
An essay about isolation
What is the role of isolation as a theme
Segregation in the 1930s
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
“Let me tell you this: if you meet a loner, no matter what they tell you, it’s not because they enjoy solitude. It’s because they have tried to blend into the world before, and people continue to disappoint them.”-Jodi Picoult Loneliness is imposed upon individuals leaving them to feel imprisoned within themselves. In the course of the Great Depression, men travelled great lengths to find labor work in order to provide a sustainable lifestyle for their families. However, the migrant workers remained in seclusion during their journey. Since most men and women were segregated, their morals morphed into hopelessness and resentfulness. Therefore, a companionship was essential to withstand the overbearing pressure of isolation. In the classic tale, …show more content…
As the lone woman on the ranch, Curley’s wife is desperate for attention and seeks Lennie to be her companion. Since he refuses to be associated with her, she becomes defensive of herself and how women are unaccepted in society during this time period. Lennie feels guilt considering he falsely accused of her being “jailbait”. Curley’s wife acknowledges of how she is perceived by the men and states, “I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely…You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody.”(##) This excerpt acknowledges that Curley’s wife has become impatient with the ranchmen’s aspects of her. She blames Curley for abusing his power and indirectly influencing the men to seclude his wife from the male dominant community. However, Curley boasts about his wife’s attractiveness while applying that she is a tramp leading the men to believe she is eager for sex. Although, Curley’s wife is falsely accused of being a tart, she only desire’s someone to support her. Therefore, Curley’s wife continues to address the unjust of segregation driven by Lennie’s attempt to avoid her. John Steinbeck states through Curley’s wife, “Aint I got a right to talk to nobody? Whatta they think I am, anyways? Seems like they ain’t none of them cares how I gotta live… I coulda made something of myself.”(##) This quotation is implying that Curley’s wife …show more content…
As Candy expresses his sorrow for the loss of his dog, he begins to question the value of his existence. He indicates his life is a pain and death would bring peace and comfort. Candy expresses his life utilizing the death of his dog, “They say he wasn’t no good to himself nor nobody else. When they can me here I wish’t somebody’d shoot me…”(##) This passage conveys how Candy’s life is miserable and without his friend, he does not have a reason to live. Candy indirectly mentions his life without a companion is unendurable instilling fear throughout his life and depicts him as vulnerable. Meanwhile, as Candy mourns for his dog, he overhears Lennie and George talking about their American Dream eventually leading him to offer his life’s savings and help to bring hope and happiness into his future. Candy states,”S’pose I went in with you guys. Tha’s three hundred an’ fifty bucks I’d put in. I ain’t much good, but I could cook and tend the chickens and hoe the garden some…”(##)This citation displays desperation of Candy and how much he would risk to gain happiness in his life. However, the quotation indirectly shows how Candy is trying to prove himself by offering his money to strangers to have a support system. Candy is desperate for a support and will take extreme measures to attain happiness and
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.
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...
“Nobody’d listen to us” (81) exclaims Crooks when talking about being ignored. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck illustrates the characters Curley’s wife, Crooks, and Candy experiencing loneliness and isolation while living on the ranch. These characters attempt to socialize, succeeding and failing. Loneliness and isolation of the characters results in yelling, bullying, and even a broken neck.
“You seen what they did to my dog tonight? They say he wasn’t good to himself, nor anyone else. When they can me here I wish somebody’d shoot me - Candy”. This quote shows how Candy was so lonely that he would rather want someone to kill himself instead of his dog because without his dog, he is now even more lonely. He is more lonelier than when he was before because before he was just old and he had his dog with him....
...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.
This aspect is reflected by use of the time period’s race standards, as revealed in the following quote. Crooks whined in sorrow, “A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody.” (Steinbeck 73). This quote suggests that Crooks’ exposure of discrimination has forced his isolation, preventing him from a healthy amount of human interaction and possibly driving mental illness. The indifference to women back then also donates to the effects of isolation and loneliness in the novel, as seen through Curley’s wife. Curley’s wife yells in exasperation, “Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody?” (Steinbeck 87). This quote illustrates Curley’s wife’s frustration and anger of being shunned by the other people on the ranch, and the lack of her actual name, only being referred to as “Curley’s wife”, may also reveal her as being considered Curley’s property rather than spouse. In the novel, the characteristic of inevitability of age contributes to the effects of isolation and need for companionship. After Candy’s dog is shot, it’s revealed that Candy faces age discrimination. Candy comments in a monotone voice: “Jus’ as soon as I can’t swamp out no bunkhouses they’ll put me on the county,” (Steinbeck 60). This example shows that Candy is aware of how useless he is in the eyes of the other men on the ranch due to his age, and will face adversity of being
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.
“I never seen no piece of jail-bait worse than her” (George) what is the reader supposed to think about Curley’s wife?
“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.
Of Mice and Men is a story of the co-dependent relationship between an intelligent migrant worker and his only friend who struggles with understanding his own strength and social etiquette. In the final section of the story Lennie makes the mistake of accidentally killing Curley’s wife. As all the workers find out they set out in groups to find and kill Lennie. During all this chaos George grabs Carlson’s luger and goes out to meet Lennie at their hiding place. Once there George makes a decision out of courageous love to kill Lennie before Curley and the others get a hold of Lennie. George’s decision to kill Lennie was for courageous love because Curley would’ve killed Lennie in a much more painful way, Lennie would have ended up in a mental
For example, she is countlessly called a “tart” and “jailbait” by some of the ranch workers. The workers call her offensive names because she flaunted her legs, pushed her shoulders back and pushed out her chest in front of the workers (Steinbeck 31). These actions could make it seem like she is interested in the other men and is being unloyal to Curley. Curley’s wife is alone often since she lives on a ranch with all men and no friends. In the text, when Curley’s wife goes into Crook’s room to talk the guys, she says, “Well, I ain’t giving you no trouble. Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever once in awhile? Think I like to stick in that house alla time?” ( Steinbeck 77). This quotation is important because it shows that Curley’s wife is just a lonely girl and wants someone to talk to her and give her attention. That ultimately caused her death, because she sought attention from Lenny who ultimately killed her accidentally. (Steinbeck
“Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck is a book that explores the underlying rules of society. In this novella, Steinbeck was able to represent society within a ranch in Soledad, California. The predatory nature of human existence is shown throughout this work as Steinbeck uses Curly’s wife to reveal how men blame women in a male-dominated society. In this novel, I enjoyed Steinbeck’s foreshadowing.
One way Steinbeck showed how society still remains unfair and unjust was by exposing most of the men's' true colors about Curley's wife. In spite of how discriminatory society was, women such as Curley's wife needed to bear the consequences of loneliness and isolation. However, unlike the injustice and unfairness women faced most of the men actually experienced the opposite of which women did and freely enjoyed most of the opportunities in life. While women lived powerlessly and in despair. Before Curley's wife had the opportunity to talk about her past, she first convinces Lennie to talk to her by telling him how lonely and depressed her life as women can become.