Curleys Wife's Loneliness

People can be lonely for many reasons. Some people don’t have anyone to talk to. Others aren’t allowed to talk to anyone because of rules set upon them. In Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, a few characters experience loneliness because of who they are committed to. Lennie is committed to George as his travel companion. George is not just a companion, but he is also a guardian for Lennie because George is taking care of Lennie and making sure he stays out of trouble. Curley’s wife is committed to Curley through marriage. Curley is a man who is always taking control of everything that he can. He makes sure that she does not go near any other men. If Curley catches her talking to anyone besides Curley himself, he gets very mad. This makes it hard for Curley’s wife to talk to other people because she is the only woman on the farm. The only thing she is allowed to do is be hidden away in the house. Lennie has George always telling

She is always hidden away by Curley. She is so unimportant, and so objectified, that she does not even have a name. When John Steinbeck first introduces her, the swamper says, “Well, I think that Curley’s married . . . a tart” (Steinbeck 28). One of the first details said about her was calling her a “tart”. This is an example of how sexualized she is just because she is pretty and a woman. Secondly, when she is talking to Lennie, she is talking about how lonely she is at the farm because she doesn’t, “like Curley” (89). She talks about how her career as a dancer was cut short, and that marring Curley was a backup plan incase her dancing career does not work. She was sort of forced into marrying Curley, and now she says that, “I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad” (87). She is being forced to be alone by Curley; she even states that, “I get Lonely” (87). Lennie and Curley’s wife both get lonely at points in their lives, but Lennie has something to keep him