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Fate in literature
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6th Period Choices and Regret By Isreal Yancey Have you ever made a choice in life that made you regret it? Did fate made a cruel turn of events in your life before? Can you fix a bad choice that isn’t permanent? Choices in the Mice and Men by John Steinbeck had some cruel decisions for these characters by fate or themselves. Life and fate the three characters of Curley’s wife, Candy/Carlson, and George are the characters I’m going to discuss in this essay.Curley’s wife made some tough decisions in her life and she isn’t too happy with those decisions. Marrying moving with Curley was the first decision that she made because she had no one else she could find for money in the and she had no job. In the 1930s the only way women can make money …show more content…
is through men, for they had to stay inside the house while the men are gone. The consequence that comes with this decision is that she has no one to talk to on the farm and wants attention. In the story Candy and George think that she’s nothing but trouble and the other men agree, so most of them don’t even bother to talk to her when Curley is or isn’t around.
Another piece of evidence for wanting a social life and attention is Curley’s wife saying, “...I met with one of the actors. He says I could go with show.” and shows have a lot of attention and more people to talk to after the show. The last decision she made was talking to Lennie the barn ALONE with no idea how disabled he is. This was a big turning point in the story for Curley’s wife and Lennie when she let Lennie touch her hair without stopping, which caused her to panic then Lennie starts to panic when she started screaming and after awhile died when Lennie broke her neck.Candy has some regret about some of the choices he made. When the people in the bunkhouse started complaining about the old smelly dog Candy had, Carlson suggested it to be put down. Candy thought his dog was just fine didn’t want him to be put down but Slim said he had to be put down. Candy didn’t have choice but listen even though he wanted to defend the poor old dog, so he told Carlson to shoot it. Carlson said it would be quick and Candy didn’t want to know or put down the dog himself at the time,but later he regrets not put it down
himself. After the dog was put down, Candy didn’t make a choice on burying his own dog. That choice Candy made wasn’t that cruel but still not ethical because that dog has been with him ever since he was a puppy. Later, everything got worse when he found Curley’s wife dead. Even while she’s dead or alive Candy always said to her that she’s a nuisance and try to ruin the other men’s lives, which she did ruin his,Lennie, and George’s life and dreams. George made the cruelest decisions in the story. When he was young he use to pull tricks on Lennie and one of them almost ended Lennie’s life. Lennie was still nice to George after that which made George regret his trick to him even more and made him look cruel in his early life. When he and Lennie became older and found their new ranch, after the “Weed incident”, Lennie accidently got into some trouble after the 2nd night at the ranch. George couldn’t do anything to Curley because it would ruin the both of their careers. His choice was to demand Lennie to hurt Curley even though Lennie NEVER wants to hurt ANYONE purposely. It’s a cruel thing to do to the gentle giant in the story when his true strength was shown to the pugnacious little man,Curley, which Lennie will have more problems on the farm because of George forcing him to do harm to Curley. Finally, George has ended Lennie’s life for George to have a normal life or to just make Lennie not do drastic things in the future for himself to killed. Pg. 106 the narrator describes the way George has the weapon held “...George raised the gun and steadied it, and he brought the muzzle at the back of Lennie’s head…”. What’s even more cruel is that Lennie was talking about their dream of living on a beautiful farm and something at this resolution of the story shows that their dream dies along with Lennie.With a close, life can hold regret and fate can come in cruel and devastating ways. Curley’s wife has a cruel life with living with a cruel man. Candy had fate coming to his dog and his dreams. George’s fate with Lennie was terrible as their lives. The choices you make can make an effect on you and others, so make your choices wisely.
Curley’s Wife in ‘Of Mice and Men’ is used cleverly by Steinbeck to create sympathy among the reader, but also to represent the position of women in 1930s America. Through an intelligently designed pattern of events in the book, we feel varying amounts of sympathy for Curley’s Wife and thus unconsciously acquire information regarding the issues women had to face in the 1930s. In this essay I will evaluate the extent to which Steinbeck presents Curley’s Wife as a sympathetic character and its relation to 1930s America. We are first introduced to Curley’s Wife through a description of her from Candy, and straight away, that in itself demonstrates her lack of individuality because she can’t speak for herself or even introduce herself just like the majority of women in the 1930s. Also, the fact that Curley’s Wife does not have her own name and is simply a possession of Curley exemplifies the concept that women in the 1930s were treated as belongings of men and were stripped of their individuality, highlighting the social hierarchy in those times.
For example, Curley’s wife attempts to interact with Lennie. She convinces Lennie to stay and converse with her after reasoning “what kinda harm am I doin’?” (88). Curley’s wife enjoys talking with Lennie and even lets him pet her prized hair. Additionally, Crooks finds companionship with Lennie. “I thought I could jus’ come in an’ set” (68) Lennie exclaims to Crooks the night the other men were out. He kept him company and both ultimately bonded after having a good time with each other. Also, Candy introduces himself to Lennie and George when they first arrive at the ranch. They develop a trust between each other, leading to the planning of “fixing up an’ little old house an’ go living there” (60). Trusting George, Candy generously donates funds to their future property, as a token for George appreciating him and making him feel important. Throughout the book, failure to interact between other characters happens often. For example, the men on the ranch consistently reject Curley’s wife, even her own husband, Curley. The men yell at her and question “why she doesn’t stay in her home where she belongs?” (62). Lennie tries conversing with her, but it only results with breaking her neck from strangling. Furthermore, Crooks tries talking to the other men, but results in exclusion and bullying. The other men discriminate Crooks from their activities, thinking “cause he’s black, he stinks” (68). Finally, Candy speaks to Carlson in the beginning in his bunker. Unfortunately, the conversation only ends with convincing Candy to have Carlson shoot his sheep dog, “to put the old devil out of his misery” (47). The shooting upsets Candy because his sheep dog was a son to him, followed him everywhere, and kept him company on the ranch. Through trial and error, Curley's wife, Crooks, and Candy interacts with other characters, resulting in successful and
Life is full of choices: where to go to school, where to live, who to marry, and what jobs to apply for, and most of the time each of us control what happens with these choices. What if those choices brought someone to the point of being trapped and feeling helpless? In the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck the wife of Curley is in just that spot. She made the choice to marry a tyrant of a man and is now forced to live with the consequences of her decisions. Curley’s Wife is misunderstood due to the workers’ assumptions, Curley’s relationship with her, and her unclear background.
The character Candy could be considered lonely after the death of his dog. Before that he seems relatively happy and, in fact, is quite gregarious in chapter two when George and Lennie first enter the bunkhouse of the ranch. He goes on about the other characters and describes the Boss, Slim, Crooks, Curley and Curley's wife. He even gossips with George, telling the story about the glove on Curley's left hand which is full of vaseline so he can keep "that hand soft for his wife."It is not until chapter three that Candy's life turns lonely. Carlson, a laborer on the ranch, believes that Candy's dog is too old and decrepit. He suggests that Candy shoot it to put it out of its misery. Candy can't do it and, because Slim gives Carlson the approval, the man takes Candy's dog and kills it.
In section two, Carlson’s belief that Candy’s old, useless dog represents to us the reality of this cruel world-the strong shall survive and the weak are unworthy. We all know that Lennie has mental disability and hence he cannot escape from this reality likewise. Another new character Curley is introduced to us, we are made to realize underlying threat this character would give. The pair manages to avoid Curley by sticking even closer to each other than usual. However, the only character which has relationship with Curley appears to be even a bigger threat. She is Curley’s wife, the only female in the ranch. When we l...
Life for ranchers in the 1930’s was very lonely. They have no family, and they do not belong anywhere. They come to the ranch, earn their pay, go into town, waste their money, and start all over again at another ranch. They have nothing to look forward to. But George and Lennie are different; it is not like that for them because they have each other. It was George and Lennie’s dream to own a piece of land and a farm. That dream is long gone. In the story, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, Curley caused the death of his wife and Lennie’s death; Curley also shattered George and Lennie’s dream.
In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, after Lennie’s death, there are many people to blame, but Curley and Curley’s Wife are to blame more than anyone else and there are strong reasons as to why.
Candy?s disability separates him from society, an example of Curley being set aside is when everybody else goes to town he is left in the barn with Crooks, Lennie, and Curley?s wife. Candy?s only friendship was with his old, smelly dog. Candy?s dog was a symbol of himself (old, and useless). When Carlson kills Candy?s dog, he kills Candy on the inside as well. Curley?s wife had the most pathetic and depressing life.
In both the film and the book, Candy is often isolated from all the others. Because of an injury to his hand, he can 't work out in the fields, so much of his time is spent alone shuffling around the ranch doing small jobs. His one and only constant companion is his dog. It is a very old dog that he has had since he was a pup. Again, both the book and the film do a good job of showing the affection that the dog and Candy have for each other. However, the book does a much better job of conveying the importance of the dog to Candy after the dog is shot. In the film scene, Carlson broaches the subject of killing Candy 's dog to put him out of his misery. Candy looks anguished but gives in fairly quickly. Once Carlson takes the dog, he lies back on his bed and just waits for the sound of the gunshot. The men resume their card game. (DVD) Although it is obvious Candy is sad about the dog, it does not have the same emotional impact that the book does. In the book, Steinbeck better conveys Candy 's anguish and desperation to save the dog. He tries to put Carlson off by offering different arguments as to why not to shoot the dog. His arguments include that it might hurt the dog, that Carlson doesn 't have a gun, that tomorrow would be a better day and that he doesn 't mind taking care of him (44). He even pleads silently for help. "Candy looked about unhappily"(42). "Candy looked helplessly at him,
Furthermore, provided to these effects is peer pressure towards characters. After failing to convince Carlson and Slim that his dog doesn’t have to be shot, Candy says in defeat, “Awright—take ‘im.” (Steinbeck 47). This quote shows Candy giving in to the peer pressure of Carlson and Slim pressing him to kill his dog despite his internal conflict of wanting to keep his only companion alive. Consequences of actions effect loneliness and isolation in the story, specifically through Lennie’s actions and his reactions to them. Lennie said miserably, “I tried, Aunt Clara, ma’am. I tried and tried.” This quote reveals Lennie, while physically isolated from the others, is painfully aware of his actions that resulted in trouble, such as causing the death of Curley’s wife, which George strictly told him to avoid, and Aunt Clara personifies his guilt and loneliness in the consequences. Insecurity and persona exhibit effects of loneliness and isolation. Curley stared coldly at Lennie and said menacingly, “Well, nex’ time you answer when you’re spoke to,” (Steinbeck 26). This quote suggests Curley adopts a macho and threatening persona to hide his insecurity of being a small man, isolating himself from that reality and his wife, who he apparently treats unfairly.
Candy anticipated that she had come to ask for Curley. He sharply answered that Curley wasn’t there and told her to be loyal to her husband. She responded to him by saying “Think I’m gonna stay in that two-by-four house and listen how Curley’s gonna lead with his left twict, and then bring in the ol’ right cross?” (Steinbeck 78). She seems to has been forcefully married to Curley since she is always roaming around searching for company. This gives us an impression that the couple does not get along well, and neither of them attempts to talk about the other’s
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.
In the Steinbeck novel ‘Of Mice and Men’, he introduces us to the character of Curley’s wife. She could be interpreted as a mis-fitting character in the novel, as no one relaters to her. This essay will go on to examine the character of Curley’s wife and how characters perceive her and how this influences the readers interpretation of her.
Similarly she tends to put herself in bad situations. Even though she is lonely she knows Lennie’s strength. When Candy tried to tell her that Curley got his hand caught in a machine. Lennie basically told on himself (80). Declaring that she only married Curley because her mother wouldn’t let her become a movie star (88). Finally after seeing Lennie’s pup dead and having him explain how it died (87). As a final point, putting herself in danger lead up to her death.
First, Lennie was influenced, then Candy, then finally Crooks. Candy had some delusions of his own. Not ones as big as George’s, but he still had them. Once he was in on George and Lennie’s plan on having a perfect life, it sparked some hope that maybe he wouldn’t have to work at the ranch forever. All this hope at once generated delusions in his head. Delusions that he would hold tightly to. When Lennie and Candy visited Crooks in the barn and when he got to know what their plan was, he came up with a delusion of his own. He thought of himself to be worthy and equal enough to be in on the plan with the guys. Later in the book, Curley’s wife knocked some sense into him and shattering his short but meaningful