Sexuality 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.

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.

John Steinbeck uses different methods to present Curley’s Wife and women in the 1930s. Throughout the novella Steinbeck represents women to be lower in society than men. In the novella women only have three different roles. A wife, an aunt and prostitutes. Steinbeck uses these roles to show the roles of women in society. Curley’s wife, Aunt Clara and Susy and Clara from the cathouse represent he microcosm of the women in American society.

Attitudes can make one small situation a big situation but all depends on your attitude.Not having control over everything can make a positive and negative affect on a person.But as a society if we try to make everybody have a positive attitude then no one would be feeling lonely.But there will always be people that will be in bummed mood for personal reasons. John steinbeck's novel, of mice and men, claims that everyone has it and people who feel isolated do it to protect their self.So,this makes people make bad chooses and then they get in trouble.Also they might do things to get attention or just ignore everybody that tries to talk to them

Barbara Sher once said, “‘Isolation is a dream killer’” (qtd. in Wishcraft). In his novella, Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck scrutinizes the effects that alienation can have on society. Many characters experience loneliness throughout the novel. He illustrates the results of individuals becoming isolated from their peers. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck portrays characters alienated from society in order to illustrate the harmful effects of loneliness caused by discrimination.

Believe it or not, there’s a lot of problems in the novel, Of Mice and Men, which portrays plenty of different social issues within the text and the movie. There were loads of racism, sexism, and ageism presented both in the film and in the book, these issues paved the way to the theme and essence of the overall story. The book Of Mice and Men, is about two different people, Lennie and George. There’s numerous of evidence to show how these three problems are bestowed in the narrative.

All humans are different. We have different skin colors, not everyone is the same sex. That is what make us human. These differences are what bring us together, but they can tear us apart. Humans can be plain and simply cruel to one another. John Steinbeck shows us how us as humans can be cruel and our cruelties of the past that still live one to today. He brings to light that people who stand out or are mistreated to say the least. Humans were cruel in the past and they’ll always be cruel. It’s just human nature.

In the shocking novel Of Mice and Men, author John Steinbeck portrays the corrupting power of women through seduction as an eager call for attention. This is shown through Steinbeck’s use of diction. The phrase “she had full, rouged lips” used to describe Curley’s wife emphasizes the inappropriate nature of the woman’s appearance. Since her lips are “rouged” Steinbeck suggests attention-seeking women to be swanky, deceiving men into their manipulative traps.

Through the movement of history, gender roles of Men and Women have been extremely varied. From the standards, expectations, to the work or home place there was a difference. Women were looked at as less than a man , the intellectual individual. Being a male was the greatest things they could be and their masculinity was their greatest pride. In the 1930’s the era of the Great Depression took presence.

Steinbeck uses physical features to describe Curley’s wife, which can lead to the assumption that the had picked her to marry based on her appearance. As a result, he doesn’t allow his wife to associate with other men or have freedom due to the fact that he believes she will be unfaithful. Curley’s wife tells some of the men, “Think I’m gonna stay in that two-by-four house and listen how Curley’s gonna get lead with his left twicet.” (Steinbeck 78). This quotation implies that Curley isolates her from anyone on the ranch, refusing to let her talk to the men.

Recently in Mainz, Germany, the dairy brand Müllermilch sparked quite a feud with fellow customers and returning buyers of designs featured on milk bottles. The front design of the bottle presented almost nude women making obscene poses, while grasping onto the different flavors of the drink. On top of the sexist images, racist pictures of women were also placed. The cartoon shown on the chocolate flavored drink, was of a darker-colored woman, when all of the other flavors presented lighter-colored women. Many feel that women should not be depicted simply as a piece of ‘food,’ and that gender inequality and racism is a matter that should not be promoted, but should be obstructed when the sales audience contains

In the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, many people do not benefit from the importance of relationships. One of the only people that benefits from the positives of relationships is George, an example from the novel is when george proclaims, “ It’s a lot nicer to go around with a guy you know” (35). Over the course of the story almost all the characters are victims of negative relationships or no relationships at all. Throughout the book Crooks is discriminated against because of his skin and as a result does not lead to many friendships and often times hostility towards others , “You go on get outta my room.

'Of Mice and Men ' is a novella portraying the failure of the American Dream. Steinbeck explores many different aspects of the life in the 1930 's throughout the novella e.g. racism. 'Of Mice and Men ' teaches the grim lesson about the nature of the human existence, showing the impossible and pragmatic truth of the American Dream. Miller also does this, as in 'Death of a Salesman ', Miller, shows that there are different versions of the American Dream. Willy believes that one only can rise to the top simply by being admired and "well liked". He teaches this to his son, Biff, but this line of thinking does not work out well for either of them in the novella. Willy 's brother, Ben, goes about it a different way. Ben believes that the American Dream is to work hard and gain something from putting your absolute everything into nothing. Miller 's drama is considered a domestic tragedy, which is a novella that focuses on the downfall of the tragic hero, as opposed to a higher class character as we see depicted in classical tragedies.

Another way, Steinbeck shows How Gorge is a true friend to lennie is through how reliable he is to Lennie. An example of this is Lennie was left alone with Curley's wife in the barn and accidently killed her, by him doing this it made all the workers want to kill him. But instead of them killing Lennie George went off and “pulled the trigger. The crash of the shot rolled up the hills and rolled down again, Lennie jarred, and then settled slowly forward to the sand and lay without Quivering,” (106) This quote shows how Gorge is a true reliable friend because A true friend will do whatever they think is good for you. Just like how George went off and killed lennie, so that way he didn’t have to go through even more hell. This shows readers that

Relationships for many are very important. Whether it be the love that it is felt or the bonds that are made many find relationships the most meaningful thing to them. Whether it is love towards a friend or love towards a significant other, relationships revolve around it. In the book, “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck the readers are met with an interesting duo. Though this relationship is not of lovers but of friends.