Curley's Wife

357 Words2 Pages
Steinbeck presents the character of Curley’s Wife as manipulative, however I feel he only does this to make us feel sympathy to Curley’s Wife and women in the 1930s. The fact that Curley’s wife has to be manipulative to get attention which she is so starved for does not kill any sympathy that the reader could have for her but drives it so that the reader is more sympathetic. I also feel that Steinbeck uses Curley’s wife as a reflection on men in the 1930s as they are manipulative yet despise Curley’s wife because she is manipulative; they do not realise that it is them that made her so in the first place Quote: Curly's wife is flirtatious throughout the book. Basically whenever she shows up she is flirtatious because this is all she has. Curly's wife is powerless in a masculine world, Steinbeck doesn't even give her a name; she is simply Curley's property. Check out this quote where she uses her femininity for attention "Oh!" She put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward. "You’re the new fellas that just come, ain’t ya?" (chapter 2, pg 145) Note: my page numbers probably don't match your but the chapter will Point: Steinbeck’s use of the character of Curley’s Wife is the only female character in the novella. Steinbeck uses different ways to show the importance of Curley’s wife. Evidence: No characters in the novella care for Curley’s Wife and very little attention is given to her. However many of the men only see her as an object. I think Steinbeck conveys that idea by his description of her. When we and George and Lennie are first introduced to her, Steinbeck takes a long time to describe her. ‘She had full rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her finger nails were red. Her hair hung in little clusters, like sausages…’ This I feel Steinbeck uses to present Curley’s Wife as an
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