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Theme of relationships in of mice and men
Describe loneliness in a story
Theme of relationships in of mice and men
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John Steinbeck’s story, “Of Mice and Men” confirms how Curley’s wife is the loneliest character in the book. No one really knows her, she doesn’t have any friends there, and she is in a relationship that she does not want to be in. The relationship they are in is almost as if it was fake the whole time and they never really wanted each other so they’re actually lonely. Their love was never there and it was basically all like acting like they were together and happy being with each other when they really weren’t. Pretending like they actually had something made them feel as if they really had nobody and just had themselves because no one really knew what they were like behind closed doors where no one would understand them. No one really …show more content…
knows her name, they just know her as “Curley’s wife” which makes her look as if she is irrelevant. Everyone talks about her and the things she does which might not all even be true about her and they just assume or make up half the things they say about her. George claims, “Yeah purty… but she got the eye.” (Steinbeck 28) and goes on talking about her and who she’s been giving the eye to that he claims Curley has never seen and just avoids her when she does give other men the eye. They assume Curley doesn’t wanna do anything about it because he doesn’t really care about what she does. She doesn’t have any friends there since Curley never really lets her leave the house because he doesn’t want her being around other men and having to look for her.
Curley doesn’t let her have any friends or try to talk to people because it makes him mad. He has more control over her and that makes her lonely not being able to talk to anybody and staying home. Steinbeck reveals Curleyś wifeś feelings, “I get lonely, you can talk to people but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to anybody.”(Steinbeck 87) She does explain why she doesn’t talk to anybody because of Curley and she doesn’t like it because of how lonely she …show more content…
gets. She is in a relationship that she doesn’t want to be in only because she wanted to get away from her mother so she doesn’t really love Curley and most likely uses him. She doesn’t like Curley because he doesn’t treat her right and isn’t a good man. He gets mad at her for reasons like talking to other people and going to leave with other people he didn’t know she was gonna be with. Curley’s wife reveals, “Well, I ain’t told this to nobody before. Maybe I ought’n to. I don’t like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella.”(Steinbeck 89) She expresses herself and true thoughts about she feels and what she feels about Curley. In conclusion, Curley’s wife is the loneliest character because of Curley himself, not letting her get out more and not allowing her to talk to people because of the way she is which makes people talk about her and assume stuff when she really does get to be out.
In my opinion she should be able to get out more and make some friends because Curley is probably making her into the person she is than what she was before. She would most likely be more friendlier to others if she actually got a shot at making new friends. Curley always makes her stay home and treats her bad as if she’s not a human being and can not go out like others do. If Curley’s wife got to be out more than maybe she would be known and wouldn’t be looked at as “Curley’s wife” and be able to find people to relate to and have someone to tell her problems
to.
All through the book Curley’s Wife is very “open” to everyone she meets. The reason for this can be interpreted by her and Curley’s “so-called” marriage. The relationship between Curley’s Wife and Curley seems to be somewhat unstable as he is always asking “Any you guys seen my wife?” (pg. ). This also shows how protective Curley seems to be as he is always checking up on where his wife is. Curley’s insecurity seems to cage in his wife from having any kind of a friendship with any other men. In turn, the wife gets so sick of being isolated like this and relieves her loneliness by conducting secret conversations with many other men on the ranch. As a result many of the ranch hands see her as a tramp but it can be viewed that all she really wants is a person to talk to.
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.
The first description of Curley’s Wife states that she gives multiple ranch workers “the eye” despite being “married two weeks.” From this we can instantly deduce that she is somewhat of a “tart” however if we evaluate further this could explain that she is lonely and not content with her new husband. The fact that she is giving other ranch workers “the eye” despite being married makes us feel no sympathy for her and instantly portrays her as endeavouring and potentially dangerous, although, on the other hand we can understand her restriction by Curley which makes us feel sympathy.
Curley’s wife comes off as a provocative, flirtatious, lustful woman, but is really hiding her true identity as a depressed and lonely person. Throughout the book Curley’s wife does show her true identity, but still tries to stay positive and deal with the bad hand she was dealt. Curley’s wife is a prime example of even though your life took a wrong turn that you shouldn’t give up. Curley’s wife may of been depressed, but she still tried to communicate everyday with someone no matter what they said to her.
From this readers see that she had the chance to live a better life then what she has now. She could have lived her dream and been a movie star, but instead she had to settle for Curley. She has a complex past that allowed her to build up walls around her past and helps build her character into and interesting complex person: more so then in the beginning of the book. Readers seem to forget one thing about Curley’s wife: She’s a human too. Just like the other characters she has feelings and needs as indicated in an analysis of major
Curley’s relationship with his wife is very distant. He treats her with no respect, his very possessive of her, he tries to control who she talks to and what she can and can’t do. His also disloyal. Only after weeks of their marriage his already going to “cat houses”. His cheating her left right and center. And like any person she needs to be loved, she needs to be cared for, she needs attention and she needs companionship.
Curley's wife is an essential character for the development of John Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men, even though mysterious and nameless, she portrays the women of the 1930s, as well as emphasises their objectification and undermining. Curley's wife is also of great importance for developing the themes of dreaming as well as their downfall, the desire to be free and independent or essentially the American Dream. Finally, she also develops the theme of loneliness in the novel, as well as the theme of bitterness; her conversations with other characters in the novel greatly show this aspect of her and contribute to the novel in many ways, making Curley's wife one of the most influential and symbolic characters in Of Mice and Men.
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.
An’ what am I doin’? Standin’ here talkin’ to a bunch of bindle stiffs-a nigger an’ a dum-dum and a lousy ol’ sheep-an’ likin’ it because they ain’t nobody else.” ” To sum it up, Curley’s wife feels like she’s hit rock-bottom because she is so lonesome to the point where she is willing to talk to the misfits of the ranch because she has absolutely no one else, besides Curley who neglects her, to talk to. This makes Curley’s wife come off as a mean person, but in reality she’s probably only acting like this because she’s in a constant state of solitude, thanks to Curley.
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.
When the reader first meets Curley’s wife, she gives off the wrong impression. She came into the bunk house “intentionally” and noticed the new boys, George and Lennie. The reader notices that she is just looking for attention, either because she is lonely or just a “tart.” Stated from the
Curley’s wife suffers from loneliness also. Her only companion is very controlling. Curley makes sure his wife doesn’t talks to anyone. She is a victim of herself because she married a man that she hardly even knew. She married him though to have a companion. She killed herself and Lennie because of her need for companionship. She craves companionship because she is an attractive woman with need for interaction. Curley’s wife says,” Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever’ once in a while? (Pg. 77)”.
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 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.
She needed people to talk to, like the others do. “A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. Don't make no difference who the guy is, long's he's with you. I’ll tell ya a guy gets too lonely and he gets sick.” (Steinbeck, 72-73). Crooks has shown us that he truly needs someone however he can’t because he is different. This goes for Curley's wife as well. Those who are different are lonely because no one wants to get involved with them. When she is lonely, Curley's wife goes to talk to people but they never accept request. “I get lonely, you can talk to people but I can't talk to nobody but curly. Else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to anybody?” (Steinbeck, 87). Curley's wife explains that she is lonely. However, no one really notices it. She knows that she is claimed by someone she does not love. She only wants someone else to talk to him. Have her being viewed the way she was, was unlikely to happen. Being the woman on the ranch was awfully hard to live happy. She knew that they won't talk to her, so depression became a factor.