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The Novel ' Of Mice And Men ' Mirrors

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The novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ mirrors, to a certain extent, how hard it was for people to survive during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The book is based on the men who had lived on the ranches- with the addition of one woman.
The first impression of Curley’s wife is not good. When she is introduced into the story, she is a figure who does not fit into the environment of the ranch. “Full rouged lips” is not expected for a lady living on a ranch- this fits more with a city person. She wants to make herself stand out and get the attention of the men on the ranch. This is unusual in the economic climate when everybody was busy trying to keep what money they had. She is dressed from head to toe in red which is a very provocative colour. Red …show more content…

She also appears “framed in the doorway” which suggests she is like a picture framed on the wall- more of an object than a person. This is also emphasised by the fact that she hasn’t been given a name, just referred to as ‘Curley’s wife’. This would be normal in the Great Depression as woman were always treated differently to men.
Another point, about Curley’s wife is that the first time we see her, there is a sense of danger towards George and Lennie. “Both men glanced up, for the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off. A girl was standing there looking in”. The reason why this could be classed as danger towards George and Lennie is because sunshine is a symbol of joy and happiness and she is blocking it which could infer she is producing a sinister image of herself, which is dark. By standing in the doorway she is neither inside nor out, which puts her on her own and not part of the group of men, which gives the impression that she is a very lonely character, which is also emphasised by the fact that she says “I get awful lonely”. This shows that Curley’s wife is always ignored by people as she tries to talk to them. They ignore her because Curley treats her as a possession rather than a human being and they don’t want to cause trouble. However, the loneliness of Curley’s wife is quite

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