“We must work together to ensure the equitable distribution of wealth, opportunity, and power in our society”- Nelson Mandela. The book Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck captures the reality of class division as the characters are judged upon their social status which defines who they are as a person. Steinbeck is suggesting that a person’s values are reflected by their race, as they are treated differently based on the color or their skin and a person’s gender as women have stereotypes set for them and are degraded by society.
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.
Sexism is shown throughout the book because of the way men talk about Curley’s wife. A fact that is important is that Steinbeck was raised in a society where men were considered more powerful than women, which explains why Steinbeck didn't give a name for Curley's wife. Steinbeck puts her in the book as if saying she’s Curley’s possession in a way. Curley’s wife says it herself that when she finds one of the men alone they treat her good but when the men are all together they gang up against her. Curley’s wife flirtatious actions are caused by her loneliness and not being able to communicate with others. Curley’s wife throughout Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is discriminated by the men on the ranch because she is a woman.
There are many indications that this is true, but three reasons stand out specifically. First, her character is described in one point of view only; the point of view of the men is the only told perspective in the book. Second, Curley’s Wife was forced to settle for less. She even goes to say this directly in the story. Lastly, she has a deep sense of isolation from being the lone woman on the ranch. In this John Steinbeck piece, the theme of a villain having a sense of victimization can be proved through the character of Curley’s
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 novella, Of Mice and Men, takes place during the Great Depression in the 1930’s, in the Salinas Valley, California. It establishes the prospect of the American Dream, discrimination,loneliness, and disenfranchisement through its characters. George and Lennie provided the value of the American Dream, to which the leading female role, Curley’s wife, represents how women are exempt from the American Dream, and appeared as less than equal to men. She developed a form of loneliness throughout the course of the novel. The novella seeks to demonstrate the way of which life was like for the characters of all different statuses and backgrounds. Through Curley’s wife’s character, we are able to see how life was like for a women during
Throughout literature, women who are characterized as shameless temptresses are often the way they are because of a desperation to break away from society’s oppression of low-class, uneducated females. This is never more true than for Curley’s wife in the fictional novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Through considerate yet concise descriptions of her fantasy of Hollywood stardom, putting down of others, and attention-seeking ways, Curley’s wife is revealed to be a downtrodden female who suffers from her own internal, emotional conflict.
Curley’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
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
Curley’s wife is the only female in the novella. She has no name and is initially seen as the possession of her husband. However, she knows that her beauty is power and uses it to flirt with other men on the ranch. She brings evil into men’s lives by tempting them in a way they cannot resist, which is why George and Candy label her as “jailbait” and “tart”. “She ain’t concealin’ nothing. I never seen nobody like her”. Curley’s wife wears too much makeup and dresses like a "whore" with red fingernails and red shoes with ostrich feathers. Steinbeck's preliminary portrayal of Curley's wife shows her to be a mean and seductive temptress. The audience’s initial impression of Curley’s wife is negative. She is seen as flirtatious because of the way she carries herself and hangs around the men in the bunkhouse.
People who face great odds will hang on to hope, however, many will lose it to the cruel reality they live in. This is the story told in the novel, Of Mice and Men, written by John Steinbeck. In this novel, Lennie and George are traveling bindle stiffs who experience the losses that come with the Great Depression, and the hope of others that is dashed by the death of one person. This theme of hope and loss is shown through Curley's wife, Candy, and George.
In the novel “Of Mice and Men” John Steinbeck portrays a story about two men, George and Lennie, whose dream is to own a farm on their own. However, they never really tried until they found out it was actually possible. Then, Lennie ruins their dream by murdering Curley’s wife. Throughout the novel, Steinbeck’s description of Lennie is filled with different animals and actions of animals. The author utilizes animal imagery to emphasize the protagonist Lennie’s physical and mental characteristics to illustrate his idea that the working class struggles to survive in the harsh economic catastrophe of the Great Depression.
“I ain't wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain't wanted in my room”(Steinbeck 68). The stable buck, Crooks, says this in Steinbeck’s famous classic Of Mice and Men. Everyone feels a sense of loneliness at some point, and in this novella, Steinbeck displays the loneliness prevalent in the 1930’s. The stock market crash not only crashed the economy, but it also divided the country. Thus, people are very strongly judged by the color of their skin and women are often viewed as property despite having equal rights under the law. At the same time, the elderly are forced to take menial jobs and are not getting the care they need. Noticeably then, the theme of loneliness is revealed in Steinbeck’s novella through the isolation and
Curley and his wife really do not deserve any sympathy. Curley is conceited, rude, and disrespectful. When he first met Lennie and George he was rude to them both getting especially mad with Lennie for not speaking back when spoken to. Lennie did not know any better he was just obeying George because he had informed him to not say anything. But I do feel sympathy for him because he did get his hand crushed by a mammoth of a man but he asked for it so that was his own fault. As for Curley’s wife she is the only female on the ranch surrounded by all of these hardworking men and she does not get any attention from her husband. I can see it from her point of view because she wants the attention; she craves it because her husband neglects her of
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