Loneliness In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Crooks is the only black man on the ranch, this could link with Curley’s wife because she was the only woman on the ranch. Like Candy and Curley’s wife,

As a reader, we begin to relate with Curley 's wife when she enters Crook 's residence where Crooks is talking to George and Lennie. She enters the room, pretending to be looking for Curley. The men respond to her negatively and act coldly towards her. She begins to talk about her loneliness and how she does not want to be seen as an item, and live her own life. "...Think I don 't like to talk to somebody ever ' once in a while? Think I like to stick in that house alla time?"

Steinbeck has written ''Of Mice And Men '' about an adventure of two men George and Lennie trying to accomplish their American dream's during the great depression during the 1930's were 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.

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.

Steinbeck quotes, “Jesus what a tramp.”, blatantly giving out the impression Curley’s wife had on the men and her role in the novella. She is commonly referred to by her looks. On page 51, Steinbeck quotes, “Well, stick around an’ keep your eyes open. You’ll see plenty”(51), that gives the recurring impression that she is subject to sexual objectification and only worthy of being known by her looks rather than who she is herself. Wherever Curley went on the ranch she was objectified for her “purty” looks and desperation for attention. Although in this sense she was more a prepotrater rather than a victim. Curley’s wife used her beauty to seek attention from the guys on the ranch, whether positive or negative. On page 31 these three segments, “ She put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward... She bridled a little...She smiles archly and twitched her body.”(31), that show her as acceptently gaining the wanted attention from the men because of her body. On page 77, Steinbeck’s quotes, “Her face was heavily made up.”(77), the definition of beauty within the text. It’s implied that makeup makes a women beautiful, not what is underneath. The other women in the text fulfill the sexual pleasure position of women. Old Susy's place is a well known common place for the guys on the ranch for the “girls”, drinks, and

Curley is very possessive of her, as if she is something that belongs to him but that everyone else desires. Curley wants the men on the ranch to know that he has something valuable that they aren’t allowed to have. Because Curley’s wife is so lonely, she is always seeking attention and putting a lot of effort into her appearance. Steinbeck writes, “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.” (31) Her over the top looks portrays her desperation to be noticed. Curley also restricts her from from socializing with the other ranch men, which makes her have no friends. She is unable to make any connections with the men on the ranch because everyone knows that if they talk to her, it will end up causing trouble with Curley, something every rancher is desperate to avoid. Since nobody seems to want to talk to Curley’s wife the loneliness makes her doubtful about herself. “What’s the matter with me? Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody?” (Steinbeck 85). Steinbeck wants us to acknowledge loneliness and realize that sometimes people can be together and yet still be

She doesn’t get to voice her opinion on anything, and she is very lonely. When talking to Lennie in the barn, she says “"why can't I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely"”(Steinbeck 86). This reminds us that she is forced to be alone until Curley arrives. She gets called names by the guys when she is not around, and they liked it when she wasn’t. When the ranch workers found out she was dead, Curley was the only person who really wanted revenge, and from the beginning he was primarily out to get Lennie. Curley’s wife has no real sense of purpose. Nobody wants her around, and she has no say in

In the novel Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck develops the theme power is derived from the exploitation of social standings through the characters Lennie, Crooks, the migrant workers, Curley’s wife, and Candy. The characters Lennie and Crooks show that mental illness and race exploitation. Lennie

In the novella, ‘Of Mice and Men’, the characters of Slim and Curley are created to have a strong influence on the other workers’ lives. While both the characters make an impact with the way they are presented, Steinbeck portrays them both very differently. He does this by giving the reader different impressions when each of the characters are introduced, the idiosyncrasies the author has given them, the way they treat others, how the rest of the characters react to the characteristics of Curley and Slim and why they influence particular characters.

In John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, Lennie and Curley’s wife make difficult choices that result in painful consequences. Lennie values touching soft objects and obedience, while Curley’s wife values attention. The decisions they make based on these values lead to the climax and tragic ending of the novel.

Receiving minimal respect from the workers present on the ranch, Curley uses his experience with fighting to earn the craved honor. Upon first sight of Lennie, Curley’s urge to quarrel becomes current and he later begins to pursue Lennie; in Curley’s belief, defeating Lennie and his brute size would frighten the rest of the ranch, leading to earned power towards his status. Nevertheless, not only does Curley try to harm the sizable, but also the defenceless, vulnerable one in his life. Throughout the pages of Of Mice and Men, hints spread in the words that Curley collides his hands upon his own wife and his reasoning is elementary: dominance and control. The little power he receives is a representation of his father's, thus he takes exhaustive command and authority over the one he is able to.

Steinbeck’s book Of Mice and Men portrays the character Curley’s Wife as a young, innocent whose personality is often mistook by the men on the ranch. She puts herself forward in a promiscuous manner to the workers which results in the reader believing that is her true personality; conversely the author includes subtle hints throughout the novella revealing how that attitude is just a mask for her true nature.

‘Of Mice and Men’ is a short novel by John Steinbeck, which is set in 1930s America. At this time in American History they were suffering from a hard hitting economic depression. This book is set on a ranch in Soledad, California. Throughout this novella, Steinbeck addresses key theme, for example discrimination, loneliness and the American Dream. Curley’s wife is a complex character. She is the only woman on the ranch. Curley’s wife is used as a plot device by Steinbeck to explore themes like discrimination and attitudes toward women in the 1930s. Although, she is thought of as a ‘tart’ at the beginning, throughout the novel we develop our opinion of Curley’s wife.

Curley’s wife and Lennie were talking and she opened up to him. “What’s the matter with me? Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody?” (87) Curley’s wife is lonely due to the fact that there is only men on the ranch, so she would occasionally go around and try to make friends, but the men would always take it the wrong way.

Throughout Of Mice and Men it is clear that everyone is not equal. There is a hierarchical structure that dictates a large proportion of what the men can and can’t do, and this heavily enforces the isolation that many men on the ranch feel. It is clear that many of the men who fall low in the hierarchy are lonely, but some that at first appear to be higher in the hierarchy aren’t enjoying their privileged lives as much as they should. Regardless of what the reader thinks of him, Curley is undeniably heigh up the hierarchy and yet undeniably lonely. Although this does not make him any better of a person or any more deserving of the reader’s pity, it is still acutely clear that he is isolated, and it is partially his own fault.