The Role Of Companionship In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

To start off, one of the most isolated character is Curlys wife. Since she is the only woman on the ranch there is an extreme gender-divide. Nobody on the ranch will talk to her, including her husband. Because of this she tries to seduce and flirt with every guy she comes into contact with. She has what’s called, “the

Loneliness is one of the primary themes in Of Mice and Men. Throughout the novel, John Steinbeck shows the enormous effect that loneliness has on the characters. Steinbeck most clearly illustrates this theme through Crooks, Candy, and Curley 's wife. Ranch hands are ideal types of people to portray as being lonely, because their constant travel leaves them without someone to talk to or share things with. Steinbeck also shows how important it is for every human being to have a companion. Companionship is necessary in order for someone to live an enjoyable life. Although loneliness affects each one of the characters in Of Mice and Men differently, they all experience negative feelings from their lack of

Curley’s wife is also discriminated against because she is a women. “Ranch with a bunch of guys on it ain’t no place for a girl, ‘specially like her.” (51) The ranch hands clearly do not like Curley’s wife. They are saying she is too weak to live and work on a ranch. They also call her names such as “looloo” and “tart”. The men on the ranch are degrading Curley’s wife’s value and bringing her down. “You sure that girl didn’t come in like she come in here today?” (55). The men do not even refer to Curley’s wife with a name. They make it seem like she does not have an identity of her own. Because she is a woman, they think they can just throw her around like an

Whether it is getting men into trouble around the ranch or just being lonely and upset with her life, there is always something defeating her. One of her main defeats in life is being married to Curley. Curley's wife, being the only woman on the ranch has nobody to talk to, not even her husband. She is constantly on the look for new attention from the men through the ranch due to not being content with her marriage, she even admits to Lennie that she does not like Curley anymore. “ I don' like Curley. He ain't a nice fella” (89). By her saying this it shows how her life has been a series of setbacks to being who she really wants to be in life, Curley being a main one of them. Curley, being a very controlling husband and hot-headed fellow rancher, makes it hard for Curley’s wife to have any freedom or fun in her life on the bland ranch. The fellow ranchers are scared to even speak to her because she is known as a flirt. With her husband being the sons owner of the ranch, nobody wants to fool around with her and potentially lose their job because of

Imagine being discriminated against because of your ethnicity; or being the only woman on a ranch, stuck in a loveless marriage, when all you really want is someone to talk to. What about having to kill that friend, and bury all chances of breaking free from the life of the average migrant worker? How would you feel? These scenarios in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men illustrate the need and desire for companionship in life. There's Crooks, the negro stable buck; Curley's wife, whose marriage to Curley hasn't exactly been lively; and George and Lennie, whose friendship is strong enough to get them to a better life and out of the negetive cycle that the average migrant worker became trapped in during the Great Depression.

We see this throughout the novel when Curley's wife is in Crooks' room. She explodes in rage towards Candy, Crooks, and Lennie, expressing that she wants to talk to others more often (Steinbeck 77). This suggests that her marriage limits her social freedom and what she is allowed to do on the ranch. Additionally, Curley's wife threatened Crooks over a simple problem. She uses a racial slur and threatens to lynch Crooks' just because he tells her to leave his room (Steinbeck 80-81). We can derive from this situation that Curley's wife has difficulty being with most others. However, she acted kind towards Lennie. On page 90 of Of Mice and Men, we see that as she starts talking to Lennie, they both warm up to each other and are very kind. This demonstrates how, though Curley's wife can be very unpleasant towards others, she has the capacity to be kind. Overall, we are led to see how Curley's wife's social experiences show the need for companionship in Of Mice and

She has a big dream to become a movie star and when her mother did not let her go, she settled with marrying Curley. She does not love Curley and is very unhappily married. She only gets the wrong attention from the men at the ranch, and being the only woman makes her have no one to relate to. “‘Wha’s the matter with me?’ she cried, ‘Ain't I got a right to talk to nobody?’” (Steinbeck 86). Curley’s Wife does not understand why she is treated like there is something wrong with her. Giving the other men at the ranch “the eye” is wrong, but she does this because she does not get the attention she wants from her husband. Her loneliness leads to her confiding in Lennie, and ultimately, her

Steinbeck shows how characterization through many different passages and ways how characterization supports that companionship is a beneficial thing. To begin Steinbeck shows characterization that supports companionship is a beneficial thing is Candy’s relationship with his dog. Steinbeck describes Candys words: “‘No I’m so couldn’t do that. I had him so long’… ‘I'm so used to him”. Candy then explains: “I had him from a pup”(45).

Comparatively, another character that was discriminated in the novel was Curley’s wife. Since she is the only woman in the ranch, she is treated dissimilarly than everyone else and gets discriminated because of her gender. The ranch workers tend to identify her as an object, calling her “tart” or other rude words. In the period time of 1930’s, men believed that woman has to stay at home and do all chores, work, "Why' not you tell her to stay the hell home where she belongs?" This remark shows how men put women at an inferior level.

George exclaimes, “I think Curley married... a tart” (28). She uses sexuality to achieve attention from the men on the ranch, because of this they call her a tramp and other vile names. Nobody talks to her alone on the ranch they are worried about making Curley mad, leaving her

Curley’s wife was lonely because of how other people treated her. All the men on the ranch view her as poison. “‘Don’t you even take a look at that bitch? I don’t care what she says, and what she does. I seen ‘em poison before, but I never saw any piece of jailbait worse than her.

Married women like Curly’s wife were always tied down to their husband and were discriminated against for talking with other men. This only makes Curly’s

This is shown from one of her quotes “I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely. ”(p.98) Nonetheless, the men on the ranch do not feel sympathy for her, despite they know that curly is undesirable and instead treating her with hatred and don’t speak to her, so she becomes more desperate. This displays that Curly’s wife is in a desperate moment to find someone to discard the feeling of being lonely

Friendship is not vital for human survival. In fact, humans could live perfectly fine without it, but there are times when having someone to talk to is mentally beneficial. Two Ranch hands named George Milton and Lennie Small go to a Ranch in search of money and a better life during the Great Depression in the novel, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. The theme that having a friend during difficult times is greatly beneficial, is shown through the dialogue and interactions between the pairs George and Lennie and George and Slim, a jerkline skinner.

People are put on this earth to find something or someone to go through everyday life with. In the book, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, it shows that companions are in everyone's lives. The book explains how the story of small smart man named George and his dumb friend Lennie; they have acted as companions for a long time and hope to achieve the American dream. During their quest they meet many people and Lennie gets into trouble multiple times. Everytime this happens George has to make a tough decision about what to do for his friend even though it feels like a pain. Through the characters Lennie, George and Candy, John Steinbeck says companionship makes people happier.