Of Mice and Men Essay November 3rd, 2011 Sexism vs. Society Throughout the book Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck displays sexism in a negative way in the early 1930’s. The character in the novel that people are sexist towards is known only as Curley’s Wife. Since Curley’s wife is the only girl on the ranch, all the men always hit on her because they see her as an object and not just as a person. Sexism was common during that time period, many women were treated very poorly. This novel is set in the time period of the Great Depression and many people were not given equal rights.
She is introduced as a temptress or “looker” but later reveals a deeper character in the novel. Curley’s wife is powerless due to her gender. In the book, women are portrayed as troublemakers and Curley’s wife is defiantly included in this portrayal. She is described as a “tart”, “bitch”, and a “tramp”. The workers speak of her, basically, as Curley’s problem that needs to stay at home away from the other workers.
How Steinbeck presents Curley’s wife in this passage above? Intro: In of mice and men, Curleys Wife is presented in many numerous ways. Steinbeck depicts Curley’s wife not as a villain, but rather as a victim. Like the ranch-hands, she is desperately lonely and has broken dreams of a better life. She's the only female character in the novel, and she's never given a name and is only referred to in reference to her husband.
She was completely isolated. Never wanted, never loved. Curley treats her as if she were an object, and Steinbeck puts more ‘loneliness’ to her by not giving her a name because she’s merely a property belonging to Curley. In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Curley’s wife is a character who is alone and misunderstood. Her life on a ranch in the 1930s, during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl is even worse because she is the only woman.
Everyone gets lonely now and then for reason maybe even unknown to ourselves. In the story "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck, 3 characters face being lonesome throughout the book. Candy, Crooks and Curley's Wife are the ones facing this problem. Candy feels like he's not useful and he's a burden to other and Crooks says he's being discriminated against for be black. Whereas Curley's wife feels lonely because she IS alone with nothing to but sit in her house and has no one to talk to and gains sympathy based off that.
Day after day she was forced to burden the cruel thoughts of others opinions of being inferior because she was a women and a women with her own thoughts at that. Taking place in 1630, societies thought upon women as the subsidiary sex and not respected in the way modern day women is. The job of a puritan women was limited, care for your house, your husband, and your children. If a women stepped out of those bounds her life became hard and wicked. The only women who were relieved of these bonds were widows who had the privilege of being able to sue or be sued, owning their own home or land and disciplining children and servants.
She says, 'I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely.' One scene involving a sympathetic portrayal of Curley’s wife is when she is looking for Curley in Crooks’ quarters after Lennie and Candy enter. She knows where Curley and the rest of the men have gone, and grows angry at the cold treatment she is given by the three men in the room. Curley’s wife confesses her loneliness of being stuck in the house all the time and to not liking Curley’s company.
Curley’s Wife’s loneliness is caused by her husband. Curley’s Wife is lonely because she did not follow her dream, Curley treats her as a possession, and the guys on the ranch avoid her because she is Curley’s Wife. “Coulda been in the movies, an’
Curleys wife is nameless throughout the whole novel. She had many dreams; in the book when lennie and her are at the barn talking she says,” Why can’t i talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely...(186) I tell you I ain't used to livin’ like this. I coulda made something of myself.”(188).
Women were part of the minorities along with the blacks because of the way they were treated. They were treated less than men because they seemed weak and useless. They did not have freedom in the Twentieth century. In work, they were paid less and they ought to be stay at home wives. The women’s rights movement was known because of the way that they fought for what they deserved.