“Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely.” This quote is an ideal representation of how Curley’s wife feels during Of Mice and Men. Curley’s wife is alone in a world of men and she yearns for a companion whom she can talk to. Another character, however, that can deeply relate to Curley’s wife is Crooks. Crooks is a perfect example of the need to be accepted, due to the fact that he feels isolated from the white ranch hands in the small shed by the barn. The desire to feel accepted in society leaves Crooks, and Curley’s wife desperate for a connection that will no longer leave them feeling isolated and alone. John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men provides a life lesson regarding human natures desire to
Loneliness is one of many central themes in John Steinbeck’s classic novella, Of Mice and Men. Throughout the story many characters sought after the company and attention of others. Each character has a certain barrier that keeps them isolated from the outside world. Three characters who portray this loneliness throughout the novella are Crooks, Curly’s wife, and Candy. Each having a different wall between them and society.
It was a Sunday afternoon, and Curley was playing horseshoes out with them other farm workers. I wanted to get away from that blasted Curley. He never let me talk to anyone, not anyone on the farm. Not only that, he won’t even treat me like I’m his wife, barely even talkin’ to me unless he had a hateful thing to say. I’m tired of life on this farm.
Steinbeck has written ''Of Mice And Men '' about an adventure of George and Lennie trying to accomplish their American dream's during the Great Depression during the 1930's where thousands of people lost their jobs in the Wall Street Crash making them feel hopeless. George and Lennie come to work at a ranch near Soledad in California. There they meet fellow ranch mates and a woman called Curley's Wife. In this essay I will focus on how Curley's Wife's personality and actions change throughout the novella and who she affect her and other bunkmates throughout the novella. In addition to that I would be showing how Steinbeck creates tension by using Curleys Wife.
Besides loneliness,Curly's wife the only women on the ranch,also suffers regrets and broken dreams.First of all,Curly's wife is very alone in her life.Her relationship with her husband seems to be somewhat unstable,because her husband Curly is always too busy to spend any time with her or give her any of his full attention.Instead,of putting his main focus on her he spends most of his time searching for her around the farm asking ''Any guys seen my wife''(Pg)and threatheing the other men on the farm not to set a single eye on her .As for this,the other men on the farm ignore her when she seeks for company,because they don't want to get into any trouble with Curley about his wife's flirtious attitude towards them.Besides her isolation,Curly's
Have you ever been told that someone you don't know is weird or mean, except only to discover that when you actually get to know them you have much more in common than you thought? By analyzing the text in the novella Of Mice and Men, you can see that John Steinbeck demonstrates the effects of perception, right and wrong, and how different viewpoints can drastically change your actions and opinions. Curley's wife is a character who dreams of a life beyond the restrictions of her marriage and the ranch. She desires attention, companionship, and recognition of her own worth. However, other characters perceive her as a flirtatious troublemaker, treating her like the stereotype of women as objects, or just a distraction.
Finally, the most significant point is loneliness. Crooks and Curley's wife are the loneliest people in the book. Crooks says, "Books ain't no good. A guy needs somebody to be near him…" It is evident that he is very lonely.
Another character who is lonely is Curley’s wife. She married Curley only because she never got her letter from the Hollywood producer, not because she loved Curley. As a result, she has no relationship and no friends ,so she wanders the bunkhouse every day looking for somebody to talk to. She wants to escape loneliness by talking to people, but everybody pushes her away, even Curley, her husband. As she says on pg 89, “I don’ like Curly. I could been in the movies, an’ have nice clothes.” This shows that Curley was just her last resort option in her idyllic path to movie stardom. The last character affected by loneliness is Crooks. He is black and thus he is pushed away by everybody and even has to live in an isolated room in the bunkhouse. Because of this he pretends to push away people too even though he longs for their presence because he doesn 't know how to act any differently. In the book, Steinbeck shows that it is almost impossible for Crook’s to escape loneliness unless he escapes out of poverty first.
In John Stienbecks novel, “Of Mice and Men,” he uses literary elements to help depict the meaning of the work as a whole, which is that cruelty can often emerge from loneliness and eventually is used as a harmful coping mechanism. Stienbeck’s novel is set on a ranch during the Great Depression. Many people work on this ranch. One of those character’s is Curley’s wife, who feels isolated in her marriage. Curley’s wife was often found eyeing down the other men and looking to have conversations with them.
“A guy needs somebody- to be near him...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”(Steinbeck 72). The Great Depression, which occurred in the 1930s, was rough on migrant workers, young and old, women, and black people alike. Candy, Curley’s wife, and Crooks undergo loneliness and discrimination during the Great Depression. John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men characters Candy, Curley’s wife, and Crooks, like so many people during the 1930s, experience harrowing times of being isolated from everybody else during those times. The things they face are being separated in a different room, being shunned by men who think they are above them, and people thinking that they are too old and useless. The theme of loneliness is expressed and felt in the novella Of Mice and Men through the isolation and discrimination of Candy, Curley’s wife, and Crooks.
It’s sad to see someone's true beauty and life shine after they pass away. Curley's wife is a character in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck who plays a major role in the theme of loneliness on the ranch. Curley's wife is defined by her magnificent looks and flirtatious attitude toward the other men who are afraid of her intentions due to her husband, Curley. Due to being the lone female on the ranch, Curley's wife struggles to find companionship, leading to her exercising her power in relationship-wise agreements, while she is also being discriminated against because of her role as a female. John Steinbeck uses circumstances in which Curley's wife misuses her influence, is influenced, and denies the truth to define a lone woman on the ranch.
Throughout most of the book Curley’s wife strikes us as a compelling and riveting character as we initially see her as a wicked character till those few seconds before she dies where you think, hey she might not be so bad after all. In the novel ‘of Of mice Mice and men’ Men’ Curley’s wife’s image is portrayed as a very sexual, flirtatious, cheeky and desperate. Steinbeck uses specific words, sentences and techniques to create the image of Curley’s wife as one that is very contrasting.
Steinbeck has written of Mice and men in a time period where men travelled alone and rarely sent time with other people. This is reflected in the characters of the novel, who are all lonely however some are lonelier than others. These include Crooks, Candy, Curley and Curley’s wife. They all have the hope of achieving their own dreams, which is the cause of their loneliness.
At some point in one’s life there is not only contentment or grief, but a state of loneliness. Loneliness is a part of human life, although some suffer from isolation more than others. Being lonely can lead to depression or create a different persona in oneself. Struggling through isolation can eventually kill one’s soul, expecting no hope or ending up in dangerous situations. The novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck portrays the theme of loneliness especially through two characters. Crooks and Curley’s wife experience the state of isolation as they crave for a friend or someone they can talk with. Steinbeck urges readers to feel pathos when analyzing Crooks and Curley’s wife through the nature of their isolation, their actions and
The novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck contains an evident theme of loneliness and isolation. Steinbeck uses his characters to invoke this theme throughout the novella. One character that is able to portray this perfectly is Curley's wife. John Steinbeck's main message through the use of the theme of loneliness, is that it's better to isolate oneself from others in order to achieve your goals.
Curley’s wife constantly complains how lonely she is as Curley is not around most of the time. This drives her to wander about the ranch talking to other men and questioning them about Curley's whereabouts. As most of the men are in town, Curley’s wife wanders to the barn where Candy, Crooks, and Lennie are currently located. The men question why she is there and see her as a nuisance. But, she stays and discusses her struggles with loneliness. “‘I get lonely,’ she said, ‘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 nobody’” (Steinbeck 87). In other words, Curley’s wife is left alone by Curley so much that she feels the need to talk to anybody that she finds. This is why she wanders about the ranch all day and talks to any men she can find. This demonstrates how women were treated during this time; they were thought to be unimportant and were often left alone by their spouses. Curley’s wife did not have a name, which shows how unimportant she really is. Women were thought to be of no use, leaving them to not have the ability to achieve the American dream.