Albert Schweitzer once said, “We are all so much together, but we are all dying of loneliness.” Undoubtedly, Albert Schweitzer’s quote can be referred to Curley’s wife in the novel Of Mice and Men, and John Steinbeck’s message about loneliness. Without a doubt, Curley’s wife, from Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, is a lonely character who fails to find companionship, and depicts Steinbeck’s message about loneliness.
First of all, Crooks is forced to live separate from the other men on the farm solely because he is a different race than his boss. He is treated like an animal and is forced to sleep in the stable. He has a collection of books which shows a grasp on humanity, but “[Crooks] had his apple box over his bunk, and in it a range of medicine bottles, both for himself and the horses”(66). This shows that even though Crooks is trying to hold onto his humanity, he is being forced to slip away from it. He has almost come to terms with being treated like an animal as a result of continuous emotional abuse. Throughout the book, Lennie dreams about spending all of his days with “the rabbits”. “The rabbits” carry a lot of symbolic meaning because they cannot judge nor express feelings or emotions. This is exactly what Lennie wanted. He wanted to spend his life with something that didn’t care about how different he was from everybody else, he didn’t want to be ridiculed by people who thought he was troubled, and he especially didn’t want to be with something or someone that emotionally and physically hurt him. Also, Curley’s wife had been increasingly criticized through the story mainly for being a woman. She wasn’t even given a name. And, after Lennie kills Curley's wife, it is said that “the puppy lay close to her”(92). The author wrote this line to
Of Mice and Men provides us with plenty examples of dehumanization that guide us to conclusions, or insights or feelings of dehumanization. Some examples of this is the dehumanization of Lennie, Crooks and Curley’s wife. Of Mice and Men perfects the traits of dehumanization of Lennie by relating him to a number of animals like the horse. Steinbeck dehumanizes Lennie by comparing him to a horse when George says, “His huge companionship dropped his baskets and flung himself down and drank from the surface of the green pool; drank with long gulps, snorting into the water like a horse” (Steinbeck, 2). Furthermore, Steinbeck helps us, by dehumanizing Crooks, living in a barn, to animals, to visualize how poorly Crooks is treated. To prove this, Crook says, “ ‘Cause I’m black.
In the novel of mice and men written by John Steinbeck most of the character desire and want to belong and have someone who cares .the main characters George Milton and Lennie small are two migrant workers who in the book are the examples belonging and having someone that 's there for them.once the two meet candy, crooks, and Curley 's wife who don 't desire to belong and for someone.the theme of the novel is that whatever the race, age, gender, etc everyone needs and wants to belong and a friend like some of the workers.
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.
In the book, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the character Lennis is a big, tall man who is described as a "big baby" because he has a mental condition that makes him act childish. The character referred to as Curley 's wife, is a petite and pretty lady. She is known to be a troublemaker and does not act the way a "normal" wife would. Although the two characters are very different, they share the feeling of being left out and alone.
John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men contains a multitude of themes through which Steinbeck shows his disgust with society. This story was written during The Great Depression and the American society was struggling to survive. People thought that by isolating themselves, they could protect people they love. Steinbeck portrays this hardship through several characters throughout the book. Three characters in particular stand out as isolated. Crooks, the only black man; Curley’s wife, who is the only woman on the farm and never named; and Candy, an old man who cannot work efficiently. These three people are symbols of the American lifestyle during this time period.
“In utter loneliness a writer tries to explain the inexplicable.” -John Steinbeck. Loneliness can be affected by many things and can affect many things. Curley’s wife is a character whose actions are debatably driven by the feeling of loneliness. Some think her actions are driven solely by her personality and moral values. Others see nothing wrong with her actions and excuse them by placing the origin of it on loneliness. These actions, no matter what the commencement, have a great impact on the people of the ranch. They affect relationships, sensibility, and moral character. In Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men the actions of Curley’s wife can be debated through what she does, her reasons of her actions, and the impact her actions have on
Curley’s wife never ceases to stick her nose into unwanted situations, and she performs immaculately in this one. This scene brings us to a mourning Lennie distraught over his deceased pup when Curley’s wife comes in and starts pouring her heart out to him. Lennie insists that she leave but she wiggles on in. He continuously repeats that George does not want him talking to her but she convinces him to let her stay. She delves into how she was supposed to be an actor and she could have been in pictures, She begins to notice a lack of progress with Lennie. He then adds he likes to touch things and she offers him to touch her hair which leads Lennie down his path of destruction. She says, “ ‘Course I brush it a lot. That makes it fine. Here-feel right here.”(Steinbeck 88). Curley’s wife unwittingly sets up Lennie to change the entire course of the book and further complicate the situation for them. Lennie ends up killing Curley’s wife in a situation she never should have been in, but her nosy behavior brings her to her doom. If Curley and his wife could produce a real conversation maybe everyone could have gotten their dream to come true but somethings just do not pan out. Curley’s wife can be vicious in about any way just like she is to the other
Curley’s wife, who was never to be named, was a complex and important main character in John Steinbeck's novelette “Of Mice & Men.”. She had a complicated past from aspiring to be a young actress but never getting the support needed from her family. She was practically forced into marriage with Curley; she never actually loved him. From the first time she was brought up in the novelette, she was portrayed as a flirtatious, ignorant tramp. This portrayal, however, is based on the viewpoints of Steinbeck’s male characters. Steinbeck himself is not one of those men. To confuse Steinbeck's voice with that of his male characters would be to wrongly accuse the author of misogyny. In fact, Curley's wife is a sympathetic character
John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men takes place during the Great Depression in the 1930’s. Taking place in Northern California, and in this time period, gives the reader a different perspective and a hint of what life is like back then, and the misery’s and hardships of what people went through. Many themes are expressed in the book, the main one loneliness, which is Steinbeck’s focus. Most people desire contact with others to give life meaning. This is seen when Lennie goes into Crook's room to find someone to talk with, and later Curley's wife comes for the same reason. John Steinbeck’s presents Curley’s wife in a way that comes off as she is being abused. In Of Men and Mice Steinbeck clearly portrays Curley’s wife as a victim and not a villain, as others would see her. She is abused by Curley, mistreated by the other men on the ranch, and she is treated like she does not exist with no respect or value.
The Great Depression caused an abundance of hardships for the American people. Those who were wealthy lost much of their fortune, and those who were poor lost everything they had. However, white men lived a relatively easier life compared to women and those of color. In Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck uses Curley’s wife as a symbol of oppression. This character’s purpose is to show the inferiority which women were looked to with and the objectification that they were forced to put up with. Steinbeck also uses her to represent the double standard which was present at the time by placing her in situations where the men were given more respect than her. Throughout the course of this novel, Steinbeck uses Curley’s wife to point out that the gender
In Of Mice and Men, there are numerous examples of sympathetic characters throughout. They all come with their stories of false promises and lost potential which brought them all to this farm. They all have at least one thing deeply, horribly wrong with them, on top of all their other flaws. In that sense, Of Mice and Men addresses the flaws found in all people, and shows how they can make some people completely miserable.
Curley’s wife is not completely innocent, but she is not a villain. When she gets opportunity’s to show her true colors she is mean to the men on the ranch, which makes her at the least part villain. When Lennie is with Crooks and Cansy , she speaks to Crooks very rudely and says, “listen Nigger. You know what I can do to you if you open your trap”(Steinbeck 104)? Curley’s wife believes that she can take control and overpower Crooks. She thinks this because she is a white female and Curley’s wife, and Crooks is black. She is expressing her power, and taking advantage of Crooks. She does this because she recognizes he cannot do anything about it. Curley’s wife then takes the conversation farther, “ Well you keep your place then nigger. I could
Humans are connected with one another through simple gravity-like forces that are ubiquitous and powerful, but in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, the characters isolate themselves. While the english poet John Donne once said that “No man is an island”, his contemporary John Milton believed that “Solitude sometimes is best society”. So, which is true? In both books the characters act as if they are“islands”, but this does not create the “best society”.The characters’ detached isolation toward one another causes them to end up feeling empty and disconnected. In both Of Mice and Men and The Outsiders characters build mental barriers to protect themselves