Of Mice and Men which takes place in the 1930’s, Steinbeck’s discussion on sexism is still an obstacle that faces society today. John Steinbeck wrote about sexism as a social issue in his 1937 novel Of Mice and Men, and, even though there have been some immense improvements in the role of women in society, the problem still stands today. Because John Steinbeck saw sexism as an important social issue in his time he wrote about it in his novel Of Mice and Men. How Curley's wife is treated by all the men in the ranch displays how women were treated back in the 1930’s. In the novel the readers are not given the name of Curley’s wife; she is being displayed as property.
As a result of being the wife of the boss’s son, Curley’s wife has nobody to talk to which leads to her isolation. Due to Lennie’s fascination towards Curley’s wife, George commands, “don’t you even take a look at that bitch. I don’t care what she says and what she does. I see ‘em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jailbait worse than her. You leave her be” (32).
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.
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.
Curley'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).
The 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
Curley’s Wife dealt with adversity throughout the novel, specifically discrimination based on gender bias. She did not overcome the subjugation, and it wasn't possible for her to do so in the world that she lived in because women were viewed as less than men as well as property in that world. In the novel George asserted, “Don’t you even take a look at that bitch… I seen ‘em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her.” (Steinbeck 32) Steinbeck used this quote to express the discrimination against Curley's Wife, indicating that people thought poorly of her because she was a woman. Lennie is another character that Steinbeck wrote to deal with discrimination, but instead of gender bias he dealt with disability discrimination.
Archetypes are a manifestation of how our minds envision the roles of characters, these characters come in the form of the hero, villain, temptress, damsel, monster, and mentor. In the book Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, we follow the story of two men who struggle to pull through to survive horrible times, on their journey they come across other characters that fulfill the roles of the archetypes. The archetype in discussion is the villain archetype which is the evildoer of a story usually a person who commits a crime against society or against a couple of people. One character in particular that fills the archetype of the villain is Curley, he has an aura of evil that resonates from his attitude and his actions, which triggers people
Of Mice and Men is a novel which tells the story of two friends traveling together and working on a ranch in Depression-era California. This story is filled with memorable characters, one of which being Curley’s wife. Curley is the ranch owner’s son. He and his wife got married at a young age, but her original plan was not to marry Curley. In this novel, she is illustrated as a ‘tart’.
Being forced to kill someone would be really emotional, but imagine if that person was your best friend. In John Steinbeck’s book “Of Mice and Men” George and Lennie have been together since they were kids. Lennie idolized George and George, as often as he gets mad at him, still loves Lennie. They run from their old town of Weed to get a job as ranch hands in Salinas Valley. From there they meet many people, most of which welcomed them, while some had a harder time accepting them.
Aforementioned, Curley 's wife represents discrimination towards women, she is constantly looked down upon and isn 't treated with respect. However, when she is talking to Crooks, “‘Well, you keep your place then, n*****. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain 't even funny,’”(OMAM 81). Crooks and Curley 's wife go through something similar. They are both discriminated based on a difference that the other men on the farm don’t have.
Moreover, with George and the other males spewing insults about Curley’s wife, it highlights the awful disrespect females would receive from people during this time period. Women were often judged for being the gender they were born as and not for the person they are, such as Curley’s wife. Unfortunately, these misconceptions about Curley’s wife leaves her in a vulnerable and unprotected state due to the fact that no one views her positively except herself. The only female character in the novella must defend herself, but outnumbered by a misogynistic population, her chances of conquering and winning are slim. In addition, Steinbeck portrays the horrors and prejudice of women by describing the reaction of Curley when he views his dead wife.
The main reason Curley’s wife faces such segregation and discrimination is because she is a woman. She is constantly blamed for distracting
The reader is positioned to view her negatively as she uses her beauty as power to seduce the workers on the farm and make her husband jealous. The men often complain about her throughout the novel, calling her names that no woman would ever appreciate. Candy tells George and Lennie his honest opinion of Curley’s wife, “You know what I think?” George did not answer. “Well, I think Curley’s married…a tart.”
Therefore, when the men say that, they are basically calling a her a “slut”. Throughout the novel of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, the author reveals that there were false expectations based on gender through the character of Curley’s Wife. The amount of sexism and discrimination of women was explicit. Curley’s wife just wanted to fit in without being judged.
