Itallo Luz
English 10.5
Ms. Brown
5th Class
‘’Of Death and Hope’’
Drama, fear, love and discrimination are a few of the points that Steinbeck brings to his novella. Innocent murder and rape accusations are the main conflicts in the narrative. The author tries to detail the life of people in that period in the ambition of achieving one simple but far goal, the ‘’American Dream’’. Lennie is child-like, Mrs. Curley is a lonely and unloved wife and Candy is an old ``swamper`` in the bunkhouse, where a long part of the history takes place. In Of Mice and Men three characters make the point of the novella very clear: Lennie, Curley’s wife and Candy. The novella takes place in the 1930’s during the great depression. Lennie Small is most of the time involved in trouble, that’s because people don’t match his physical (huge and
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She is defined by Curley's wife or possession. The ‘’swappers’’ in the ranch also call her by other names such as "jailbait" or "tart." She wears too much makeup and dresses like a "lady of the evening" with red fingernails, red shoes, and ostrich feathers. By the moment that Lennie meets her, he is fascinated by her and cannot take his eyes off her. He keeps repeating "she's purty."(Steinbeck 32) Curley's wife knows her beauty is her power over the man, and she uses it to flirt with the ranch hands and make her husband jealous. She is always alone on the ranch, and her husband has seen to it no friends and no one can will talk to her without fearing a
All the men in the ranch see her as a disturbance and do not want to associate with her. As Candy said, “‘I’ve seen her give Slim the eye. Curley’s never seen it. An I’ve seen her give Carlson the eye’” (Steinbeck 28.)
In John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men”, Lennie and George travel together to work. They discuss the trouble they experience with Lennie's touching things he shouldn't and how that forces them to run, hide, and constantly search for work. Throughout the book, Steinbeck gives just a small picture of all the trouble Lennie has caused and how George continues to guide him to get by. A problem with a girl leads us to chapter 1 and 6, and how they share in setting, but George and Lennie's interactions differ. The similarities and differences of chapter 1 and 6 show how Lennie and George's cohesive friendship with a bright future develops into a loving bond that had to end.
Because Curley’s wife is closely connected to the boss, her engagements towards the men on the ranch will only push her further away from them. Also, when Curley’s wife appears, her loneliness pours out of her with resentment. She describes her isolation at the ranch by stating, “I get lonely...you can talk to people, but I can't talk to nobody but Curley” (87). This shows that shes just a lonely young and naive girl, who uses her sexuality to get noticed on the
Despite being the only female on a ranch full of foul-mouthed men, Curley 's wife exploits both her sexuality and her status to demonstrate power throughout the novel. For instance, when first meeting Curley’s wife she attempts to enhance her body for the new men: “She put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward” (31). From Curley’s wife’s actions we learn that since the beginning she finds it necessary to flaunt her body, instead of showing her real personality. Furthermore, she is using her physical attraction to portray an appearance that is automatically seducing in hopes of placing herself above the newly arriving men. After Crooks tells Curley’s wife to get out of the barn, she erupts
Making her physical features, such as her red nail polish, the most important part of her character. This is made obvious by the ranchers when they talk about her, as George says, “I seen 'em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jailbait worse than her. You leave her be." And, “Jesus, what a tramp. So that's what Curley picks for a wife”(67).
(Josselyn) Curley’s Wife can be mistaken for an antagonist in the story because she is only described through the men’s point of view. Workers on the ranch view her in one way: as a cause for trouble. The old sweeper, Candy, sheds his perspective on us when he describes her on page 32, saying, “Jesus, what a tramp. So that’s what Curley picks for a wife” (Steinbeck). As men arrive for work, they are flooded with the opinions of all of the existing others.
Curley’s wife is with Lennie in Crook’s stable. She is complaining to Lennie about how the men constantly disrespect her. “ Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody? Whatta they think I am, anyway?” (pg.87).
In John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck displays the importance of hope throughout the story, and how hope makes life worth living. In of Mice and Men, George tells Lennie his story about how “Someday—we're gonna get the jack together and we're gonna have a little house and a couple of acres an' a cow and some pigs” (Steinbeck 14). This story seems to comfort Lennie whenever he is stressed or worried. Lennie's knows this story by heart, but he always has George tell it because “it ain’t the same if [Lennie] tells it” (Steinbeck 14). George and Lennie’s dream, in their mind, isn’t coming anytime soon, until Candy overhears them talking about it.
When Curley’s wife discriminates against Candy, Lennie, and Crooks when she says, “they left all the weak ones here”(77), she is desperate
(87) More specifically, the other men on the ranch refuse to talk to her because Curley’s position of power on the ranch portrays him as having the ability to have any man on the ranch lose their job. Furthermore, when Curley’s wife was conversing with Lennie in the barn and confided in him, she said: “Well, I ain’t
In this chapter, the gloom is relieved by the hopeful planning of the three men — George, Lennie, and Candy — toward their dream. For the first time in his life, George believes the dream can come true with Candy's down payment. He knows of a farm they can buy, and the readers' hopes are lifted as well, as the men plan, in detail, how they will buy the ranch and what they will do once it is theirs. But while Steinbeck includes this story of hope, the preponderance of the chapter is dark. Both the shooting of Candy's dog and the smashing of Curley's hand foreshadow that the men will not be able to realize their
The novel Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck is a gripping tale of two men and their lives during the Great Depression. George Milton and Lennie Small are two migrant workers who travel together finding work. They take on a new job “bucking barley” at a ranch in central California for the ranch owner and his son. While working at the ranch they encounter Curley the ranch owner’s son and his wife, a flirtatious woman. The story reaches a climax when Lennie unintentionally kills Curley’s wife and runs back to the Salinas River just as George instructed.
The book Of Mice and Men is full of puzzling examples of the human condition, from Lennie and his mental disability to Curley only caring about his social appearance. With characters like these two, the book exploits the human condition that concerns circumstances life has given you. John Steinbeck brings to life what being a laborer in the American depression meant to the men and one woman who had enough personality to stand out. Steinbeck shows the human condition of men while they survive in the American depression.
Survival is often introduced as a concept of endurance, persistence and perseverance, a textbook idea about simply living or dying. At the inception of human life, merely surviving was imperative and existence was something that humans fought for on a daily basis. But, as we flourish independently, as societies and as a race, the concept of survival is warped, and growth as an individual, as well as coping with everyday hardships and not just traditional examples of adversity such as poverty and destitution are prime examples of survival. In John Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, the reader is presented with the idea that survival is not synonymous to staying alive, and moreover, that cultural and societal struggles shape self in accordance with the way we face them. Survival of the fittest is the primordial notion that only the fit have the power and strength to live, and more importantly, thrive in their environment.
The theme of the novel, Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck, is hope and loss. This is shown through the perspectives of Curley's wife, Candy, and George. In this story they all have a period where they hope for something more, but later on lose it. Although it is hard to remain hopeful in horrible situations, it is best not to lose hope and give into the situation you find yourself in.