preview

How Does Steinbeck Present Curley’s Wife in “of Mice and Men”? Discuss Her Significance in the Novel.

Good Essays

In the novel “Of Mice and Men” John Steinbeck tells a story of dreams, hopes and loneliness. We are introduced to a majorly significant and complex Character, named Curley’s wife. Steinbeck shows us that Curley’s wife is flirtatious, mischievous but most of all an isolated character. She plays a main part in the novel; in doing this she displays and presents many of the main themes.

Before we are presented to Curley’s wife, Candy talks about her, to George and Lennie. She is spoken about in a gossipy manor. “I think Curley’s married a … tart.” Steinbeck is prejudicing or preparing us before we meet Curley’s wife. He does this, so that we have an influenced preliminary impression of Curley’s wife and the way she acts.

We develop an …show more content…

However Curley’s wife blames the lose of her dream on her mother, “I never got that letter… I always thought my old lady stole it… so I married Curley”. Not only does this show her naivety, but also her lack of love for Curley. Steinbeck saying this, proposes her nonexistent respect for her mother and others around her.

Steinbeck presents Curley’s wife as a valueless object and a naive, venerable girl. Through the complexity of her personality, she unravels the story. Finally, her life has been cut short by the desire for human contact. Relating too much of the novel, “Of Mice and Men” is Robert Burns’ poem “To a Mouse” from which the title of the novel comes from, “with naught but grief and pain for promised

Get Access