How are Crooks and Curley's wife presented and developed in the novel "Of mice and men"?

Authors Avatar by haseebrizwan (student)
An important theme running throughout “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck is of loneliness. Two pivotal characters are shown in particular as examples of this theme. The first character is “Curley’s Wife” and the second is the stable buck, “Crooks.” Both for their own individual reasons are deprived the attention, love and compassion that they crave. They are the most perfect examples of loneliness in the novel and they are presented as characters in contrast to George and Lennie – who live on the companionship that they share.Curley’s wife had hastily married Curley to escape living with her mother. Since marrying Curley, his wife has been ignored by him, not receiving the satisfaction of marriage both emotionally and physically. She does not receive the love, attention or companionship from Curley so sets out to seek the attention of other ranch men. She is described
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as a “tart” by the other ranch men because of her sexual mannerisms around the ranch, aiming to grab the attention of the other men. She is also described by George as “jail-bait” when he warns Lennie to stay away from her. It is established very early that Curley’s wife is deprived of companionship. Loneliness is like an illness for her and she sets out to cure it by presenting herself sexually around other men. Although she is conveyed as an evil figure because of her ability to land others into trouble, she most certainly is not evil. On the ...

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