During the Great Depression, migrant farmers sought out work to stay alive. When they finally found a job to sustain them, workers were mistreated, starved, paid poor wages, and, worst of all, robbed of necessary human companionship. John Steinbeck captures the hopelessness of Depression-era farm life in his novella Of Mice and Men. Throughout the novella, most characters have a disability crippling them and pushing them away from other workers on the farm. Their disabilities are a physical embodiment of their isolation. Steinbeck uses his disabled characters to illustrate the depth of their loneliness, as well as to exemplify different types of loneliness. Candy, an old ranch worker, is pushed away from the others due to both his old age …show more content…
The reader sees fleeting glances of his insecurities, such as when he runs into the bunkhouse, demanding, “Any you guys seen my wife?”, for as much as Curley may brag about it, his wife is hardly ever by his side (Steinbeck 53). Curley lacks self-confidence, and must bully the other workers to raise his own self-esteem. Picking fights with other men, which is the one thing that saves Curley from his internal lack of confidence, also causes his demise: “Lennie grabs his entire fist in mid-swing, stopping him, and then proceeds to crush Curley's hand” (Bloom). His hand, which he used to beat others, was his only savior, and now Lennie has crushed it, which disables Curley even more and pushes him further away from the tall, confident, masculine fighter he wishes to be. His loneliness stems from insecurity, and his disabilities cause that insecurity. Curley’s wife, on the other hand, is not insecure, but suffers from ostracism and isolation because she is a married woman. Michael Meyer points out, “…the hardship for a woman to live on the ranch as presented in the novel should not be ignored”. Curley’s wife only wants someone to talk with her, but the men on the ranch mistake her trying to start conversations as sexual advances: “I never seen nobody like her. She got the eye goin’ all the time on everybody… I don’t know what the hell she wants” (Steinbeck 51). They also ridicule her, calling her a
Curleys wife -Curley 's wife 's loneliness has altered her demeanor towards others tremendously, making her overtly insecure and excessively flirtatious. Curley 's wife has become virtually another person because of loneliness. The men on the ranch avoid her because of flirtatious personality to keep out of trouble. No one understands her situation and how loneliness affects her. Her insecurity is evident by the way she dresses and utilizes her make-up. She uses her appearance to receive attention like when "[Curley 's Wife] was standing there looking in. She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled clusters,
Curley’s wife is a lonely and Naïve, and that makes her an easy prey. She is the only woman on the ranch she is a lonely woman. Her husband, Curley, is a mean and over powering man, uses her to pick fights with other guys. He is a terrible husband who not only is mean to his wife but also leads us to believe that he beats her up. Curley’s wife usually would listen to her records but Curley even breaks those. Her flirtatious nature is what gets her into trouble, and that also leads her to her death. Lennie is a gentle giant who doesn’t mean to hurt anybody but accidentally does. In the case of Lennie, Curley’s wife does not know what she is getting in for. Curley’s wife flirtatious nature is a harsh reality but as an innocent person get her in to trouble.
Curley’s wife acts very provocative, playful, childish and flirtatious, this is because she is very lonely and has no power at all. Nobody knows the real person she is because no one ever dares to get in trouble with her. Curley’s wife is often presented negatively by Steinbeck such as when she is cruel to crooks after his hopes have been raised by the dream. This is easily shown when Curley’s wife snaps at Crooks. “keep your place then, Nigger.
Curley’s wife is probably one of the most misunderstood characters in the novel, often being looked down upon, or talked badly about. She is the only woman on the ranch, and who appears consistently throughout the novel. At one point, some of the workers are
The next time Steinbeck presents Curleys wife is in her conversation with Lennie, Candy and Crooks. In this extract we see how Curleys wife clearly enjoys having power over others and because she is the only girl on the ranch she is prone to discrimination by being made to feel like one of Curleys possessions. We first get
Curley’s wife is a complicated character. She is unfaithful and bitter. But that’s only because she is extremely lonely and feels unwanted by her husband. She takes the feeling of dissatisfaction and projects it at all of the men on the ranch. She regrets the direction her life has taken but still has hope that she can achieve her dream. All the characters in the novel feel like outsiders and Curley’s wife is no
Curley’s wife is a victim because Curley her husband, abuses and mistreats her. Curley is always curious and spectacle of where his wife is as if he does not trust her with other men. Commonly asked by Curley "y'all seen my wife around?". Perfectly explaining as of how low the trust is in their relationship. Curley is also presented a being one of the cockiest, if not the cockiest, on the ranch, despite his size. Everyone on the ranch can see it too, the Swamper says” He’s cockier then ever since he got married.” The way Curley act’s comes off as he has a good-looking wife just to present her looks off to other men on the ranch, as a way to show his power. Or is treated because Curley truly does not care about her, he is really not in love
In a society of people all in the same situations how can someone feel so alone. When lives fall apart and people have nothing to hold on to people need each other most, yet are pushed so far from others. The novel Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck, follows the storyline of two men who are displaced farm workers during the Great Depression; they travel around and stick by each other’s sides no matter the circumstance. After many jobs they end up on a farm,the farm they hope will be their last stop. The time spent on the farm is filled with blooming friendships and careless quarrels, yet with an abundance of characters and entertainment- many people on the farm feel alone and out of place. Characters such as Crooks and Curley’s wife often come to mind when the subject of loneliness is brought up. Throughout the book using characters such as Crooks and Curley's wife, John Steinbeck demonstrates that humans are immensely impacted by separation from society and it will change the way that people will act and show themselves to others.
Curley’s wife, who is never given a name, but always called “Curley’s wife”, is shown with a lot of sexual prejudice. She is referred to as a “looloo” (51) with a very flirtatious nature and “she got the eye goin’ all the time on everybody”, and she might “even gives the stable buck they eye” (51). A "ranch with a bunch of guys on it ain’t no place for a girl, specially like
Swell guy, ain't he? Spends all his time sayin' what he's gonna do to guys he don't like, and he don't like nobody."(78) This quote shows Curley's wife's displeasure with her husband it also shows that Curley doesn't really spend much time with her unless he's talking about who he want's to fight next. Curley's wife try's to make up for her husbands absenteeism by trying to make friends with the other ranch hands, but she go's about it in a way that scares the away from her. She wears too much makeup and shows off her body to the men in provocative ways.
“Want me to tell ya what’ll happen? They’ll take ya to the booby hatch. They’ll tie ya up with a collar, like a dog” (Steinbeck 72). Discrimination plays a large role to feeling lonely. In the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, characters endure attempts by society to make them “invisible.” These include racism, ageism, sexism, and isolation. More specifically, three of these characters experience loneliness from acts of discrimination. Factors contributing to their loneliness include ageism, disability discrimination, and racism. Each of these characters are migrant workers during the Great Depression who are discriminated against in different ways. Thus, through Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife, Steinbeck reveals the powerful
Curley's wife is cast out because she is a woman. Curley watches over her carefully since she is his wife and the only woman on the farm. Curley does not allow his wife to converse with the other workers because he is afraid she will be unfaithful. She complains that individually, the men are generally nice, but in groups, they shun her and are sometimes cruel. Since Curley's wife is oppressed, she lashes out at a target that is weaker than she is, which is usually Crooks. He does the same.
During the Great Depression, it was not uncommon to become morosely secluded while working. Men would go far away from their families in search of any jobs they could get, with only themselves to confide in; colleagues only filling in the void of friends and family partially. Naturally, John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men, written during this period, would reflect this fact as a major aspect of the story. Loneliness would become the sinew of Of Mice and Men, manifested in some of the story’s main characters: Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife. These allusions to loneliness are found throughout the book, mimicking the rampant disease of isolation at the time.
If people saw what Curley’s wife had to go through, they would understand why she was behaving the way she was. The men on the ranch only view her based on the actions that she does. They don’t know what she had to go through. Curley’s wife feels like she is confined in the ranch and she finally expresses her feelings by screaming, “Sat’iday night. Ever’body out doin’ som’pin’.Ever’body! An’ what am I doi’n? Standing here talkin’ to a bunch of bindle stiffs-a nigger an’ a dum-dum and a lousy ol’ sheep-an liken it because they ain’t nobody else”(78). Through her troubles of fitting in, she learns that her beauty is her power. She uses her allure to flirt with the men on the ranch to get rid of some of her loneliness since Curley won’t let anybody talk to her without getting canned or beaten. These circumstances cause her to become more dependent on the power of her beauty. The men saw her as “jailbait” or a “tramp” because they judged her on only the actions that she did, not the story behind
In the author’s novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck depicts an individual’s life during the Great Depression as a sad, lonely journey, in order for a person to revive and achieve their American Dream. He highlights a person’s desire for companionship throughout the novel.