The Lost and Lonely People of John Ernst Steinbeck (of Mice and Men)

Lennie’s mental problems are what get him in trouble and force him to rely on George for the basic necessities of life. Crooks’ skin colour keeps him separated from the rest of society and causes him a great deal of anger. The feelings of loneliness that most of the characters feel makes them intrude onto other people’s relationships in an attempt to find some form of companionship. The hardest part about seeing the struggles that Steinbeck presents us with is that we see people struggle in the same way

Curley’s wife is first described by Candy in chapter two. Candy and George were in the bunkhouse talking about Curley. The conversation got around to how Curley keeps his hand in a glove full of Vaseline for his wife. Candy goes on to talk about her. He describes her by saying that “she’s got the eye” (28). When Candy says this it means that she wants the attention of men so she flirts and dresses provocatively. Candy continues saying, “I seen her give Slim the eye… an’ I seen her give Carlson the eye”. This proves that Curley’s wife is a flirt because despite being married to Curley she still tries to get the attention of other men. Similarly, the way Curley’s wife dresses contributes to her seductive behaviour. Every time she makes an appearance in the novel she is wearing a dress with her hair curled and heavy makeup on her face. For instance, when Curley’s wife finds Lennie in the barn with his dead pup, she “wore her bright cotton dress and the mules with the red ostrich feathers. Her face was made up and the little sausage curls were all in place” (86). The way Curley’s wife dresses up and does her makeup even when she’s not going anywhere or with Curley shows her provocative actions. Through these examples, it is obvious that Curley’s wife tries to be seductive.

Due to child like qualities, Lennie is a person which would be easy prey and a vulnerable person. Lennie is a vulnerable person who is quite dumb. His has an obsession for touching soft thing and this will often lead him in to trouble. But

Curley’s wife is a complicated character. She is unfaithful and bitter. But that’s only because she is extremely lonely and feels unwanted by her husband. She takes the feeling of dissatisfaction and projects it at all of the men on the ranch. She regrets the direction her life has taken but still has hope that she can achieve her dream. All the characters in the novel feel like outsiders and Curley’s wife is no

Curleys wife -Curley 's wife 's loneliness has altered her demeanor towards others tremendously, making her overtly insecure and excessively flirtatious. Curley 's wife has become virtually another person because of loneliness. The men on the ranch avoid her because of flirtatious personality to keep out of trouble. No one understands her situation and how loneliness affects her. Her insecurity is evident by the way she dresses and utilizes her make-up. She uses her appearance to receive attention like when "[Curley 's Wife] was standing there looking in. She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled clusters,

Curley’s wife is probably one of the most misunderstood characters in the novel, often being looked down upon, or talked badly about. She is the only woman on the ranch, and who appears consistently throughout the novel. At one point, some of the workers are

In Of Mice & Men, the character Curley’s Wife is depicted as flirtatious, promiscuous, and insensitive. However, her husband Curley sees her as only a possession. Most of the workers at the ranch see her as a tart, whereas Slim, the peaceful and god-like figure out of all the men,

John Steinbeck uses Curley 's wife to portray the woman 's role in the 1930s. Back then, women were treated as property and trophies to their husbands. Women 's insignificance is signified by the fact that Curley 's wife is never given a name. She is always referred to as Curley 's belonging. Additionally, Carlson 's statement about Curley 's wife needing to go back to her place where she belongs characterizes women 's roles by saying that women should be at home performing domestic chores. In essence, women were looked down upon and never seen as equal to the men.

Curley’s wife is a victim because Curley her husband, abuses and mistreats her. Curley is always curious and spectacle of where his wife is as if he does not trust her with other men. Commonly asked by Curley "y'all seen my wife around?". Perfectly explaining as of how low the trust is in their relationship. Curley is also presented a being one of the cockiest, if not the cockiest, on the ranch, despite his size. Everyone on the ranch can see it too, the Swamper says” He’s cockier then ever since he got married.” The way Curley act’s comes off as he has a good-looking wife just to present her looks off to other men on the ranch, as a way to show his power. Or is treated because Curley truly does not care about her, he is really not in love

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. For example, “Curley’s wife laughed at him “Baloney,” she said. “I seen too many you guys if you had two bits in the worl’, why you’d be in getting’ two shots of corn with it and suckin’ the bottom of the glass. I know you guys.” Candy’s face had gotten redder and redder, but before she was done speaking, he had control of himself” (79). More specifically, Curley’s wife is put off as a flirtatious no good tramp that doesn’t bring any good to the other guys: “Old Candy watched him go. He looked helplessly back at Curley’s wife, and gradually his sorrow and his anger grew into words.

The colour red is also used a lot to describe Curley's wife. Steinbeck describes her as having "rouged lips", "red mules" and "red ostrich feathers". Suggesting red is a colour that is associated with Curley's wife, and that she signifies danger. Adding to this, during Curley's wife's conversation with George and Lennie, "Lennie's eyes moved up and down her body". This immediately alerts the reader that Curley's wife is dangerous. As previously George and Lennie had to run from their last job in Weed, due to Lennie's attraction to petting soft things. After this conversation, George calls her "jailbait" and a "rattrap", he knows that she is dangerous, and warns Lennie to keep out of her way. It is evident from these points that Curley's wife is a dangerous and provocative character, and one that should be avoided.

Curley’s wife, on the other hand, is not insecure, but suffers from ostracism and isolation because she is a married woman. Michael Meyer points out, “…the hardship for a woman to live on the ranch as presented in the novel should not be ignored”. Curley’s wife only wants someone to talk with her, but the men on the ranch mistake her trying to start conversations as sexual advances: “I never seen nobody like her. She got the eye goin’ all the time on everybody… I don’t know what the hell she wants” (Steinbeck 51). They also ridicule her, calling her a

Curley's wife is cast out because she is a woman. Curley watches over her carefully since she is his wife and the only woman on the farm. Curley does not allow his wife to converse with the other workers because he is afraid she will be unfaithful. She complains that individually, the men are generally nice, but in groups, they shun her and are sometimes cruel. Since Curley's wife is oppressed, she lashes out at a target that is weaker than she is, which is usually Crooks. He does the same.

talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad at me." (91) Curley's wife tries to combat her loneliness by flirting with the other workers, but when they plainly turn her down in order to stay out of trouble, it just further adds to her loneliness.

The next time Steinbeck presents Curleys wife is in her conversation with Lennie, Candy and Crooks. In this extract we see how Curleys wife clearly enjoys having power over others and because she is the only girl on the ranch she is prone to discrimination by being made to feel like one of Curleys possessions. We first get