Women In Of Mice And Men

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In the 1930s America, women were seen as inferior to women. They were deprived of many rights and their default position was thought to be at home. Married women were by law forbidden to work and those unmarried were reduced to the worst jobs of society. In Of Mice and Men which is essentially a poignant tale about the friendship between two men, Steinbeck presents to us an unvaried sample of women. One of which actually speaks and appears for herself in person and another who although appears to have some moral values is “dead” and only appears through Lennie as a figment of his imagination. Curley’s wife is the only women who is given a voice, but however hasn’t been granted a name. She is simply referred to as: “Curley’s wife” over the…show more content…
What is also similar is that when the other ranch hands have a problem with either of the two they complain to their ‘owners’. When Carlson feels Candy’s dog is of no use he questions “why’n’t you just shoot him Candy?” And when controversy sparks over Curley and his wife Carlson again questions “why’n’t you tell her to stay the hell home where she belongs?” This cruel comparison again shows how women were thought of In the 1930s America, the effect it has on the reader is also a cruel and sharp one. It makes the reader belittle Curley’s wife and not think much of her but however on the other hand it may make some readers sympathise with her and actually feel sorry for…show more content…
At the end during her sentimental speech Curley’s wife reveals to the reader her longing for being “in the movies”. The way how Steinbeck presents dreams in his novel shows that a women’s dream was harder to achieve than a males’ dream. The effect this has on the reader is that they see George and Lennie’s dream in the exact opposite way to Curley’s wife’s dream. The whole book itself rotates around George and Lennie’s dream and the failure of their dream is what ultimately makes the book so tragic whereas not a second thought is spared by the reader at the futility of Curley’s wife’s
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