Of Mice And Men Curley's Wife Controlled Analysis

Throughout Of Mice and Men, Lennie’s interest in petting things is shown. However, the outcome of Lennie’s interest is often tragic. His disabilities cause him to be too rough when petting things accicentally. He can not control his strength, and that poses a huge threat. Lennie even kills mice and the puppy because of it. Curley’s wife notices this when she witnesses Lennie with the dead puppy in the stables. When they were talking, Lennie expresses to Curley’s wife that he “likes to pet nice things” (Steinbeck 90), and tells her how his hobby in petting things results for the puppy. Unfortunately, Curley’s wife still allows the big guy to pet her hair. As a result, Curley’s wife is the only one to blame for her death. Some might say that Curley’s wife should not be held responsible for her own death because she is lonely and just wants someone to talk to. However, loneliness is no exception for her allowing this to happen after receiving the obvious warnings she is given. Therefore, Curley’s wife should have carefully considered letting someone, who was so easily capable of an enormous amount of hurt, touch her

Author John Steinbeck creates some of the most realistic characters in literature in his novelette Of Mice and Men. George, Lennie, and Curley’s wife are examples of both strength and weakness. In the end, each of them are pushed beyond the limits of what a normal human being should endure. Curley’s wife is a victim in her own life. Her dreams of becoming an actress are crushed, she is lonely, and she is murdered by Lennie.

Another very important event of the novel is Curley’s wife death. Lennie is blamed for having killed her, although she could have easily avoided this by not talking to Lennie. He speaks to him as if he were a baby, and, since he tells her that he likes to pet soft things, she asks him to touch her hair. “Feel right aroun’ there an’ see how soft it is.” Lennie cannot stop, and when she orders him to leave her he holds on.Curley’s wife starts screaming and, to make her stop and not get into trouble with Curley, Lennie puts his hand on her mouth. He doesn’t realize how strong he is, and he kills Curley’s wife by breaking her neck. “[…] her body flopped like a fish. And then she was still, for Lennie had broken her neck.”

Imagine living in The Great Depression on a ranch where you work for a boss who pays you $50 a month and provides you with your daily meals. Sounds like a good deal right? That is where things become a little controversial especially in the novel Of Mice and Men. Multiple characters within the novel are treated differently due to their gender, race, and mental ability. Discrimination is a terrible thing and Of Mice and Men provides examples why this is.

John Stienbeck’s novel “Of Mice and Men” is about the death of the American dream. George, Lennie and Candy’s dream is to own their own piece of land to work and live independently on. This dream is destroyed by Lennie’s ignorance and Lennie’s strength, which he cannot control. Curley’s wife’s dream is to be a famous Hollywood actress. Her dream is destroyed by her marriage to Curley and the Hollywood director who promised to contact her about her acting career but never has. Crook’s dream is for equality. Racism and the attitudes of others destroy this dream.

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.

John Steinbeck was born in the 1930’s in Salinas, California a place that became the background for a majority of his novella’s including of mice and men. Of mice and men is a novella based on the life of two migrant workers during the great depression. During the 1930’s women were treated as sexual objects and housewife’s that cater for their husbands every needs rather than being treated like actual human beings that they deserved to be treated as. Throughout this essay I shall be exploring the ways in which Steinbeck creates sympathy for Curley’s wife.

“And when they gone, Candy squatted down in the hay and watched the face of Curley’s wife. ‘Poor bastard,’ he said softly.” Sometimes through false hope, we tend to get to sucked into unrealistic dreams which can lead us to becoming a victim of our own vulnerabilities. Throughout the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, false hopes and dreams have impacted our society and how some people live their lives today. John Steinbeck uses metaphors and foreshadowing to show how false hopes and dreams can sometimes result in something not as great as it was once believed to be, which can ultimately impact our society.

Thesis: Through Curley’s wife, George and Lennie, and Crooks; Steinbeck demonstrates that dreams may go askew in the face of greater forces. Dreams prove ultimately harmful for those delegated to the margins of society. Crooks’ dream of not being in isolation represents powerlessness in the face of racial discrimination. As Lennie enter Crooks room, Crooks tries to apprehend him but gives in and lets him stay.

Often times, people fail to accomplish their dreams and are blindsided by the wanting of being dominant and the feelings of loneliness. In the novela, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, George constantly dreams with Lennie about this vision, but is then awakened by the perception of isolation and non-dominance. Curley's wife is one that has similar failures, and continuously wants something that she doesn’t have. Taking place during the great depression, failure was not uncommon. The dreams and defeat of both George and Curley’s spouse are comparable.

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.

Despite being the only female on a ranch full of foul-mouthed men, Curley's wife exploits both her sexuality and her status to demonstrate power throughout the novel. Though the men often thought that she was ineffectual, she made certain to quickly prove them wrong. For example, when talking to Crooks she was exceedingly straightforward with her authority: “Well you keep your place then, ni**er. I could get you strung up on a tree so fast it ain’t even funny”(81). Even though she was a woman, Curley’s wife had an authority over others on the ranch because she was married to the boss’s son.

Each person has an aspiration. Most of us don’t reach this dream and some of us don’t even get close, but there is a small portion of us who do. The population of humans whose wish did not come true, continue their lives. We get so close to attaining our dream, the one thing that we have asked for our entire lives, and it just slips away. We become lonesome without anywhere to go or anyone to be with.

When we try to chase our dreams, we end up in our own diminutive lonely world. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, has taught readers that the American dream can only ever be accomplished through hard work and determination. More times than others, we are distracted by the dream itself, and don’t chase the reality, which can then lead to high expectations, and without hard determination, that can then failure. In the end, we have been lonely for so long, chasing a dream, that when reality hits us, we become isolated and lonely. For George and Lennie, they have each other, until the American dream seemed too hard to chase.

In the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, on page, from “Well, he seen this girl in a red dress” to “like he wants to pet them pups all the time” Lennie’s actions show indication of Curley’s wife's death later in the book. By using foreshadowing, it is seen that Curley's wife is responsible for her own death.