Two Lives of Solitude in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men Essay

I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it 's not even funny. '”(81). Curley 's wife is isolated because she is a woman and is considered unimportant. Though she is a woman she has her own power but because of her gender, it is limited and so she feels alone. “..Why can 't I talk to you? I never get to talk to anybody. I get awful lonely. '”(86) Her gender, race, and her power are shown but not her feelings for her lifestyle. Aside her feeling and what she shows, she is a needy woman and somewhat cruel.

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,

As a reader, we begin to relate with Curley 's wife when she enters Crook 's residence where Crooks is talking to George and Lennie. She enters the room, pretending to be looking for Curley. The men respond to her negatively and act coldly towards her. She begins to talk about her loneliness and how she does not want to be seen as an item, and live her own life. "...Think I don 't like to talk to somebody ever ' once in a while? Think I like to stick in that house alla time?"

Also, Curley’s wife demonstrates where she stands on the ranch from being Curley’s wife by threatening to frame Crooks. This causes many of the workers to stay away from Curley’s wife because she has so much authority. Furthermore, many workers try to avoid Curley’s wife because her appearance does not always end well: “She closed on him. “You know what I could do?” Crooks seemed to grow smaller, and he pressed himself against the wall. “Yes, ma’am.” “Well, you keep your place then, ---. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny” (80-81). More specifically, Curley’s wife frightens Crooks, a black stable buck, with the threat of hurting him. And also, because Crooks is black, Curley’s wife has a stronger effect on Crooks because he could easily be hurt by Curley or the Boss. With this said, because Curley’s wife is the only women on the ranch, she has a higher authority on the ranch than what Crooks has. In other words, if a situation was to occur between Curley’s wife and Crooks, Curley’s wife would have a huge advantage from being a woman. Unfortunately, Curley’s wife wields what power she holds to threaten Crooks and Candy, and the men ultimately ignore her playful advances, unwilling to lose their livelihoods by upsetting a

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

In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses characterization of dialogue and actions to reveal that one can be surrounded by a group and still be lonely. The use of dialogue proves that the characters are lonely even though they are working closely together. Also, through the characterization of actions the author reveals that most of the men are lonely and that the men occupy themselves even though they are with a group of people. John Steinbeck’s theme applies to the entire would because it proves that loneliness affects everyone at one time or another. It changes the way a person thinks and behaves. When people feel lonely their actions and way of life are affected. Nobody can run away from loneliness even if they live with a group of people. It’s a trait that no one can get rid

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.

While Crooks, a victim of racial prejudice, expresses his isolation openly, he also socializes with the other workers on the job and while playing horseshoes with them. Curley’s wife, on the other hand, cannot talk to anyone without suffering the consequences of a jealous husband: “I get lonely,’ she said. “You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to anybody?” (87) More specifically,after meeting him that same night, Curley’s wife ran away from home to marry Curley to spite her mother. She further confessed to Lennie she doesn’t even like Curley. As a result, she left one situation hoping to move closer to capturing her dreams, but her companion’s jealous and violent behavior prevents her from even socializing with others.(88) Therefore, she went from living with multiple people to living with only Curley, who is supposed to be her companion and someone she

In a society of people all in the same situations how can someone feel so alone. When lives fall apart and people have nothing to hold on to people need each other most, yet are pushed so far from others. The novel Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, follows the storyline of two men who are displaced farm workers during the Great Depression; they travel around and stick by each other’s sides no matter the circumstance. After many jobs they end up on a farm,the farm they hope will be their last stop. The time spent on the farm is filled with blooming friendships and careless quarrels, yet with an abundance of characters and entertainment- many people on the farm feel alone and out of place. Characters such as Crooks and Curley’s wife often come to mind when the subject of loneliness is brought up. Throughout the book using characters such as Crooks and Curley's wife, John Steinbeck demonstrates that humans are immensely impacted by separation from society and it will change the way that people will act and show themselves to others.

“I don’ like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella,” (86) Curley’s wife did not actually like him; she married him to prove her mother wrong. She thought he was too focused on how well he could fight. However, Crooks grew up always being discriminated from against the world because of his color, but even that after a while got to be lonely. Although he did not put his self out for everyone’s attention, he just stayed alone and read his books.

In Steinbeck’s ‘of mice and men’ set in 1930’s, both Crooks and Curley’s wife are defenseless victims of social prejudice which leads to their sadness and depression. Crooks, being a black man is discriminated and segregated towards by all the other ranchers “They play cards in there but I can’t play because I’m black- Crooks” whereas Curley’s wife being a woman is expected to stay at home and take care of the house “Why don't she get the hell back in the house where she belongs- Carlson”. Furthermore Steinbeck as well as the ranchers view Curley’s wife as “trouble” in Candy’s words and she is later referred as ‘jail-bait’ and ‘tramp’ by other men. Consequently both Crooks and Curleys wife choose to express their hurt in different ways: Crooks holes up in his room with his books in order to escape the harsh reality where he is treated as an outcast while Curley's wife does so by clamoring for attention and desperately trying to be noticed either by creating ‘trouble’ or flirting with the ranchers.

Throughout the novel, Steinbeck continuously shows us how lonely Curley’s wife is and how she attempts to cope with it. We meet Curley’s wife at the end of the second chapter, where she says she is looking for Curley in the bunkhouse. She is quick to identify George and Lennie as the new workers. We also find her in Chapter four walking into Crooks’ room with the pretext, again, of looking for Curley. In the context of the times, this may have been seen as inappropriate as Crooks is a black stable hand. She was the only woman on the ranch and the fact that she is driven to talk to the workers indicates how isolated she felt. Her sexuality isolates her from the other characters. She is bored and

With societal rules obviously differing between men and women during the Great Depression, Curley’s wife feeling an impact of isolation comes unsurprisingly. Without the understanding of any other on the ranch, she must encounter unpleasant experiences wholly alone, for example: sexualized behavior from others, the menstrual cycle, female expectations, and sexual biased. A marriage usually symbolizes devotion and companionship, but, nevertheless, her marriage brought only more seclusion upon her life. On the writings of page 77, Curley’s wife expresses the following towards the men in Crooks’ quarters: “If I catch any one man, and he’s alone, I get along fine with him. But just let two of the guys get together and’ you won’t talk.”

When a person is lonely and does not feel a sense of belonging, they disregard societal expectations and search for a sense of belonging anyway they can. The character of Curley’s wife, who is a lonely ranch wife, demonstrates this throughout Of Mice and Men. Curley’s wife is ostracized from the men working on the ranch by, her husband, Curley. She, therefore, has no one to talk to except Curley who does not make his companionship meaningful to her. So, when Curley is away from the ranch she takes advantage and

Crooks, Curley, Candy and Curley 's wife are all lonely, but all for different reasons such as discrimination and prejudice. Crooks is a black man who has always been pushed aside from every group. He is treated as second class, he