Steinbeck gives us a very detailed description of Curleys, he states he has tightly curled hair which suits his name, he has high heeled boots making it very clear that he is the bosses son and has a higher status than rest of the ranchmen, I think that he uses the fact that he is the boss’s son to wield power in the ranch as he asks “seen my old man” taking control over the conversation with no respect to what others were saying, this also leads us to speculate about his personality and whether he is a very bossy character as after asking this question he states see you later creating an image in the minds of the reader as a very arrogant and brash person. This is again shown when he demands the ranchmen to tell him where his wife is. It also gives an impression that he has a tendency to predate others as he quotes “catch” later, these phrases used by Steinbeck, this part of his personality is further solidified by Steinbeck when curley says where is my wife cause a feeling of dislike against him that only grows as the novel progresses.
Steinbeck describes him to him to have a very protective personality as he uses phrases and words such as “pugnatice and “calculative”
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Thus I think that curley is steinbecks way of showing the discrimination against women of the day. Steinbeck portrays curley as a person who is aggressive and full of egoistic only because he is trying to show himself as the strongest to his wife and add to his sexually appeal to his wife and draw her attention, this is clear as he has a glove full of Vaseline. Through these characteristics of curley Steinbeck is trying to show us the stereotypical man during the
Of Mice and Men which takes place in the 1930’s, Steinbeck’s discussion on sexism is still an obstacle that faces society today. John Steinbeck wrote about sexism as a social issue in his 1937 novel Of Mice and Men, and, even though there have been some immense improvements in the role of women in society, the problem still stands today. Because John Steinbeck saw sexism as an important social issue in his time he wrote about it in his novel Of Mice and Men. How Curley's wife is treated by all the men in the ranch displays how women were treated back in the 1930’s. In the novel the readers are not given the name of Curley’s wife; she is being displayed as property.
Steinbeck uses Curley in this story because so they can show not to pick on people that u dont
“‘Well, you been askin’ me too often, I’m gettin’ God damn sick of it. If you can’t look after your own Goddamn wife, what you expect me to do about it? You lay offa me” (Steinbeck 62). When Curley cannot find his wife, he becomes quarrelsome and confrontational, putting others in danger. Due to Curley’s wife not staying by her husband’s side, the other ranchers’ duties as well as the lives are put on the line, considering Curley’s amount of power on the farm and his well-known wrestling career.
She resorts to talking with other men by flirting, but only makes Curley more protective and abusive towards the other men she is associating with. People do not see others’ internal selves, but only their external images. By focusing only on the outer appearance, the men on the farm see Curley’s wife as a “tart” (Steinbeck 29). Curley is very pejorative and the men in the ranch
Curley is described as a small man and he uses his lack of height to his advantage. He picks on big guys because if he beats them in a fight he gets the glory, but if the big guy wins then he is seen as beating up a little guy and people say that the he should pick on someone his own size and may gang up on him. He also uses his power of being the boss's son to make others fear that he may get them fired if they wrong him. He also is jealous of other men talking to his wife and always tells her to stay at home and yells at any man talking to
He is described as a “huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide, sloping shoulders” (2). 5.The tone of the passage is aggressive. Steinbeck creates this tone by emphasizing Curley’s physical reaction to the men. Steinbeck describes Curley as a very abusive and cruel man who seems to throw his weight around.
In the novella “Of Mice and Men” one of Steinbeck’s central character is Curley’s Wife. Steinbeck presents her as a dangerous and powerful due to his language techniques like metaphor, simile and structure. However in a misogynistic society she can also be seen as a lonely and vulnerable character. Steinbeck’s use of symbolism especially towards Curley’s wife creates a dangerous and powerful persona.
Someone once said, “A villain is just a victim whose story hasn’t been told.” The character known as Curley’s Wife in Of Mice and Men is portrayed in John Steinbeck’s writing as an antagonist. Multiple time throughout the book she is insulted by the men, who call her things such as a tramp, or a tart. As the story continues, there are many hidden indications that she could be seen as a much simpler, innocent presence, rather than an evil. When looked at more in depth, Curley’s Wife can be seen as a victimized character.
Notwithstanding, he has had controversy with almost everyone on the ranch. He abused Lennie, a mentally disabled man, he publicly exposes his and his wife’s sexual lives, and he treats his wife as if she is his slave. Moreover, the actions Curley has done are corrupt, but they are not solely because he is an abominable person. An infrequent amount of readers will look at Curley’s actions and have sympathy for him, but Curley has reasons for his mistakes. Nevertheless, Curley is a disastrous man due to the way he grew up being an only child, he is astoundingly short, his father is a wealthy ranch owner, and he grew up in a racist and sexist community.
Steinbeck describes Curley’s wife as followed: “...wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up... she wore a cotton dress and red mules... She put her hands behind her back and leaned against the doorframe so that her body was thrown forward... Lennie’s eyes moved down over her body, and though she did not seem to be looking at Lennie she bridled a little” (31). Curley’s wife knows that her power, her only power, lies in her beauty and her position of actually being Curley’s wife.
Finally, Steinbeck dehumanizes Curley by the negative criticism that always pursues her and her loss of identity when accompanying someone or something. This is why she is always commonly known as “Curley’s Wife”, proving that she is an unimportant and insignificant character in this book. Plus, everybody in the book says that Curley’s wife causes trouble for everyone; as George says, “She’s a jail bait all set on the trigger,” (Steinbeck, 49) and is constantly getting blame for all that goes wrong in Soledad; as Candy says, You God damn tramp. You done it, di’n’t you? I s’pose you’re glad.
In such time of the Great Depression and gender equality, this novel presents the character of sexism, Curley’s wife, to show how her dreams has been achieved through death. During her talk with Lennie, she tells him that she “‘[...]never get[s] to talk to nobody [and that she] get[s] awfully lonely’” (Steinbeck 86). Even though she is depicted as a flirtatious, “‘[...]purty [...] bitch’”, her true life was lonely and segregated from the male ranchers (Steinbeck 32). Steinbeck applies this paradox in the story to picture the reader about how a character’s identity can either encourage or ruin his or her reasons to live and achieve a future.
Curley’s wife describes her childhood, “I never got that letter. I always thought my ol’ lady stole it. Well, I wasn’t gonna stay no place where I couldn’t get nowhere or make something of myself, an’ she says no. So I married Curley…” (Steinbeck 88).
The characters in “Of Mice and Men” have memorable personalities that we all can relate to due to their set archetypes. John Steinbeck uses these common and generalized in order to have the readers relate more to his characters. This allows the reader to experience the story and feelings of the characters much better and lets the reader to connect to the character’s feelings, or force the reader to form opinions that aligns with those of the main protagonist(s). In “Of Mice of Men”, readers are initially introduced to Curley’s Wife with words such as “tart”, and having “the eye”. Which, even if readers do not know what that means, it may be inferred through diction that she is overly flirty, or a “tramp”.
In John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck portrayed a political statement by looking at mental and physical disabilities through different characters such as Curley's Wife, Crooks, and Lennie. Curley's wife is used to represent how women were treated during the 1930’s and almost treated with a disability. Women were portrayed as the help and they were supposed to stay home and work while the strong brave men went out and got money to support the family. By Steinbeck not giving Curley's wife a name he is showing how she is connected to Curly with an Invisible rope.