Craves Male Attention In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

“Wha’s the matter with me?’ she cried. ‘Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody? Whatta they think I am, anyways?” (Steinbeck 87) In the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Curley’s wife is discriminated against because she is a woman living in the 1930s when few females could live economically independent of men. By choosing not to name her, Steinbeck reinforces her insignificance on the ranch and her dependence on Curley. While a misfortunate victim of isolation, Curley’s wife exerts unexpected power attempting to mask her pain.

In the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ by John Steinbeck, there are very interesting characters, including Curley’ wife or, in other words, “his possession”. At the beginning of the novel, Curley’s wife is described as a” tart”. She was given that name by the ranch heads. Physically, she had a fascinating fashion style. She would always have her fingernails painted red, her makeup would always be worn heavily and she had a thing for feathers, which she would have worn on her shoes. The guys on the ranch thought she was attractive but they weren't looking forward to any trouble with her husband, so they kept their distance from her.

Toxic masculinity. It is a hidden concept that not many men know of yet many men have internalized. It is a socially-constructed attitude that describes the male gender as violent, unemotional, dominant, and sexually aggressive. Culturally accepted ideas of manliness lead men to believe that to “be a man” one must display these horrible attributes. John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men follows the dynamic duo that is George Milton and Lennie Small as they face the Great Depression and a new job. In his novel, Steinbeck seems to represent the idea of toxic masculinity through not only the ranch workers but George and Lennie themselves. Steinbeck shows that male stereotypes and false ideas of manhood not only exist in present-day but were also present during the 1930’s. Through Steinbeck’s depiction of certain men as aggressive and strong, he proves that toxic masculinity, gender roles, and the patriarchy can affect men negatively much more than they affect women.

In the novella, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, there is a character named Curley’s Wife. Curley’s Wife is first shown in the novella as a character who is thought as provocative and represented as darkness. This does not change throughout the story, and she is dehumanized, objectified, and sexualized. Therefore, Steinbeck crafts the character, Curley’s Wife, in order to convey how the american dream is unattainable through him showing sexism and discrimination towards women.

The long, hard war of human equality in society, has been a war since the beginning of civilization. The Great Depression, a tragic time in America’s history, reflects American determination, but also social inequality. In the fiction novella, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses symbolism and characterization to address ableism and sexism in society. Steinbeck addresses these flaws in society in an attempt to ultimately bring awareness these riffs before society falls.

After the Great Depression, many things changed, different\\ genders and races were all treated differently. Blacks and white women were forced to be outcast in the world, women belonged in the house and blacks did not belong anywhere. In the book Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck portrays perfectly of how blacks and women were separated from everyone else with Curley’s wife and Crooks, the black stable hand. Curley’s wife and Crooks are alike in many ways; in their loneliness, the way they are separated from everyone else and how they get out casted from everything, discriminated against during the time period; which helps show how blacks and women were treated during this time period of life.

Imagine being discriminated against because of your ethnicity; or being the only woman on a ranch, stuck in a loveless marriage, when all you really want is someone to talk to. What about having to kill that friend, and bury all chances of breaking free from the life of the average migrant worker? How would you feel? These scenarios in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men illustrate the need and desire for companionship in life. There's Crooks, the negro stable buck; Curley's wife, whose marriage to Curley hasn't exactly been lively; and George and Lennie, whose friendship is strong enough to get them to a better life and out of the negetive cycle that the average migrant worker became trapped in during the Great Depression.

Curley's wife's loneliness has altered the way she is towards others, making her very flirtatious. The men on the ranch avoid her because of flirtatious personality to keep out of trouble. No one understands her situation and how loneliness affects her. Her insecurity is easily seen by the way she dresses and wears her make-up. She uses her appearance to receive attention like when "Curley's Wife was standing there looking in. She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages. She wore a cotton housedress and red mules, on the steps of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers." Curley's Wife feels she must dress this way for people to notice her and give her attention. Her dressing-up is unnecessary because they live on a farm and this is not the typical or practical clothing. The way she dresses proves her insecurity and her lack of confidence. Curley's Wife dresses inappropriately along with acting in flirtatious ways. This is another attempt for the attention she

The book, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, portrays how the characters blame their misfortunes on Curley's wife. Curley's wife is one who, is associated with wanting to get attention. Curley's wife wants attention because she gets none and just wants to be noticed. Also, she is others' scapegoat because she has no one to talk to and she misses having that interaction with people.

     "Of Mice and Men" is a play written by John Steinbeck that focuses on life during the mid 1930's. This play has many recurring themes, and one of these themes is that of loneliness. This loneliness is because of the intolerance of society on those who are different. The underlying, yet stunningly obvious, theme of loneliness can be found in many characters with many examples. This loneliness due to isolation and intolerance is found in the characters of Candy, because he is old and useless; Crooks, because he is black and crippled; and Curley's wife, because she is a beautiful woman and the only girl on and all guy ranch.

The men think she is a “tart” and they don’t want to talk to her. I think she is all alone and has no one to speak to about anything. She is the only woman on the ranch and her husband is arrogant and he doesn’t cherish her enough. Curley’s actions trigger the need for his wife wanting attention and a friend. If he had it his way, she’d be locked up in the house all day. Curley’s wife knows this and it makes her want to get out and chat with other men to make him mad. I think Curley’s wife is a victim to the world she is existing in. The whole world is against her and I think Steinbeck wanted the reader to know this. He wrote about how everything she could’ve had was taken away from her. Her own mother denied her a life of movies and acting and her husband denied her friends and a social life. Curley’s wife is just misunderstood and a victim of the times.

Do you have an unrealistic dream? In the book Of Mice and Men by John

In life human nature can be known to be thought of as a high quality and/or low quality. Naturally, human nature is there without thought about what it actually is. In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the author sprinkles clues and evidence of how human nature was and still is today. The themes that Steinbeck used throughout the novel were, for example friendship, loneliness, and weak vs. strong.

In the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Curley's wife is nothing short of controlled by Curley, because of not being able to explore her dreams and opportunities, she was not able to succeed in what she wished and was arguably meant to do caused her to live a miserable life on the ranch being controlled by her husband, whom she does not love. Throughout the novel Curley’s wife is constantly getting other men into trouble by her flirtatious ways. Curley’s wife was a very beautiful woman, however, she took her looks for granted. WIthout receiving the love she needs from her husband, she gets creative with trying to seek the attention she finds necessary. She often spends a lot of time ‘looking’ for Curley around the ranch but in reality it seems as if she is trying to avoid his presence overall.

Curley's wife is a very good looking women girls like her need to have all the confidence they can get. That is why curley's wife tries to get all the mens attention by being rebellious Steinbeck stated “jesus what a tramp’’(32). This makes curley's wife lonely because she's constantly trying to boost her self esteem because she is lonely and has nobody who pays attention to her.