Gender In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
“The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men.” - Alice Walker In Chapter 4 of Of Mice and Men race and gender are depicted in different ways symbolizing different character behaviors. For starters, in this chapter race is seen as a barrier between workers. Crooks, a black stable buck, is separated from the rest of the men and lives in a secluded bunk by the barn. These living conditions compare Crooks to more of an animal than man. However, due to being crippled Crooks is more of a permanent resident at the bunkhouse. This allows him to be viewed as more of a piece with the property than a resource that can leave. In the beginning …show more content…
Curley’s wife, the only main female presented in the novella, is depicted as a harlot. The only other time females are mentioned is when they are mentioned as being ladies in whore houses. This depiction sets the tone for all females presented in the novella. Instead of being seen as a worker, women were mainly seen as man’s companion, and as a symbol for love, lust, and desire. In the novella Curley’s wife’s appearance is described as, “Her face heavily made up. Her lips were slightly parted. She breathed strongly, as though she had been running.” The description above presents an alluring and tempting appearance as well as enticing body language. These depictions create a female character that is more focused on men than anything else. However, fitting with the time era women were not seen as anything other than a male’s companion and a house wife. Later in the novella Curley’s wife flared up and says, “Sure I gotta husban’. You all seen him. Swell guy, ain’t he? Spends all his time sayin’ what he’s gonna do to guys he don’t like…” Curley’s wife uses sarcasm as well as aggravation to respond to the men. The quote above depicts a different tone other than lust. She reveals an almost helpless tone. She is aggravated with her husband and uses sarcasm to express her trapped
Examples Of Moral Ambiguity In Of Mice And Men
386 Words | 2 PagesCurley’s Wife is depicted as morally ambiguous because she uses her sexual appeal to lure men into her life, but in her point of view, she is trying to repel her loneliness. Curley’s Wife likes to use her physical appeal to get to know other men. To make her husband jealous, she is very seductive towards her husband's workers. This is
Outliers In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
873 Words | 4 PagesAs the only women on the ranch, this causes Curley's wife to be the minority to all of the men on the farm. This causes her to become very lonely and isolated since she is the only women. In the texts Curley's wife says, “‘I get lonely,’... ‘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?’”
How Is Curley's Wife Presented In Of Mice And Men
733 Words | 3 PagesIn the book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Curley’s wife is portrayed many different ways throughout the story. Women were often understated around guys, and given less power. When Curley’s wife is first introduced, she doesn’t come off to the readers as very nice. When she was introduced she was mean, flirtatious, and it was let known that she was beautiful. She was flirting with the other men on the ranch,you feel more bad for her when the men are saying mean things about her, and near the end of the book the reader becomes sympathetic for her.
How Does Steinbeck Present Curley's Wife
410 Words | 2 PagesDespite 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
Examples Of Stereotypes In Of Mice And Men
494 Words | 2 PagesCurley's wife is stereotyped as a woman who gets around a lot, with other gentlemen. Therefore, Curley’s wife is a woman’s man and likes to get around. She flirts with any guy she can see with her own two eyes. “I never seen no body like her. She got the eye going, all the time on everybody” (Steinbeck 5.1.1).
Female Characters In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
953 Words | 4 PagesThe women shown by Steinback are Curley’s Wife, Susy, and Aunt Clara and are given somewhat respect. Even though there are not many female characters, John Steinbeck symbolizes them as archetypes throughout the book he indicates sexism of women being at the bottom of the social hierarchy in a male workplace. Although all women in the novel are portrayed differently, on some level as authority figures, they differ in the amount of respect received
Of Mice And Men Discrimination Essay
561 Words | 3 PagesCrook’s character is being discriminated due to his skin color which soon caused him to be disregarded. Although at a certain point, Crooks stood up but no good has come to him. Challenging discrimination is strenuous, however it is necessary in order for an individual to advance. One of the most lousy assumption made during the novel’s time period is the hierarchy between the color of men.
Curley's Wife Isolation
376 Words | 2 PagesCurley’s wife is one of the most alienated characters in the novel Of Mice and Men, if not the most alienated and isolated character as it is displayed through her being nameless, being very flirtatious, and the perception of her by the men on the ranch. Indeed, the author constantly is showing that how regardless if you are amongst people or have company, but however there is no sensation of love what so ever, it is just as equal to living a life through despair and desolation. Whenever Curley’s wife appears in the book she is either looking for her husband or other company to converse with, however it has a reverse notation and it pours out of her in resentment and disillusion as she states, “Why can’t I talk to you?I never get to talk to
How Does Steinbeck Use The Power Lens In Of Mice And Men
780 Words | 4 PagesSteinbeck 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.
Dehumanization In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
384 Words | 2 PagesFinally, 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.
Archetypes In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
639 Words | 3 PagesUnlike the other ranch hands, Crooks has his own version of a bunkhouse suite in the stables of the barn. During the time period of this story, slavery had somewhat recently been abolished, which led to segregation in the south. This is the reason Crooks is alone in comparison to the other men, forced to sleep with “a manure pile under the window”. Remaining separate, but equal in the eyes of the people who don’t allow him in the bunkhouse. Crooks is also mentally outcasted in the eyes of the racist members of the ranch.
Mental Problems In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
307 Words | 2 PagesIn the book Curley's wife is shown as a pretty woman who is used by men. She wanted to go to Hollywood and become famous, but because she married Curley who lived on a farm she had to stay at home and clean up. In the book they don’t give her a name, they leave her unnamed because in the time period that the book was written women were seen as inanimate objects. They were used for cleaning and taking care of children.
Gender Lens In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
835 Words | 4 PagesThings start off well, but take a turn quickly. George and Lennie are the main characters, but some of the other characters can be deeply examined too, through different literary lenses. Curley’s wife is one of these characters, whom could be identified by many literary lenses. However, we will focus on one lens, the Gender lens.
Examples Of Sexism In Of Mice And Men
1644 Words | 7 PagesAuthor John Steinbeck explores multiple real life issues in both works, and provides a message of how unfair the world is, as well as show how cruel humans can be to differences. Sexism is an important topic when one discusses society. The issue of sexism has always been prominent. With the definition of prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex. In Of Mice and Men, author John Steinbeck showed how men thought about and treated women through the character Curley’s wife.
Sexism In Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
973 Words | 4 PagesSexism is shown in the book when Curley’s wife is regarded as a bitch merely owing to the fact that she is flirtatious and wears appealing clothes. People are prejudiced against Curley’s wife because she is a woman and also because she wears makeup and dresses. She is constantly called derogatory terms throughout the book simply because of her appearance and coquettish actions. She is perceived as Curley’s property so she is not to be looked at or spoken to.
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