Opposite to Curley’s wife, George’s girl represents the devoted and loving wife or girlfiend, the woman who every man dreams to have as a wife. It seems like the writer wants to suggest that there were also good women in the 1930s society even if they were a minority. George talks with tenderness (gentelness) and regret about having a “girl” when he talks about letting Lennie away, settle down and have a stable life.
Aunt Clara is introduced by George as a caretaker character. She is not Lennie’s mother, but she is blood relative and has taken Lennie to look after him when his mother died. She is presented as a “little old fat woman” (page 113) but when she is talked about it is in a respectful tone. She symbolises the loving and protective mother, the writer’s vision of wholesome femininity. Moreover, she is an authoritative figure. We can see that in the last pages of the novel when she appears in Lennie’s dream before his dead. “I tol’ you an’ tol’ you”, she says telling Lennie off because he did another “bad thing”.
In the contrary, Curley’s wife’s mother is introduced by Curley’s wife as the controlling woman, the “ol’ lady” who “stole” (page 100) her letter from a guy who promised her that will “put [her] in the movies” (page 99). Curley’s wife’s mother symbolizes the possessive mother who wants her daughter to comply with the rules of early 20th century of being a wife and being submissive to the husband she was belonging to. She is, also, a protective mother who worried she was “on’y fifteen” and too young to have an independent life.
Steinbeck personifies the actress stereotype through Curley’s wife. On top of being isolated by the men on the ranch, she is also a dreamer. As most of the characters in the novel, she has her version of American Dream. In 1930s, the film industry based in Hollywood, California was growing. Curley’s wife was dreaming to become a movie star.
“Of Mice and Men” is a novel written like a play. Steinbeck uses light and darkness as a stylistic technique to create visual effects. When Curley’s wife appears first in the bunkhouse, the “sunshine in the doorway was cut off”.(page 34) Later on, during their conversation “She put her hands behind her body and leaned against the door frame” and “She smiled archly and twitched her body.” before leaving the bunkhouse. All these citations make us seem like we watch a film or a play in which Curley’s wife is the actress. The writer creates this effect as she is on stage acting in the spotlight.
Steinbeck personifies the prostitute stereotype through two brother keepers and their girls. His female characters seem to come in pairs: Aunt Clara and Curley’s wife’s mother, Curley’s wife and George’s girl. Even the two local whorehouse keepers look like the opposite, one is cheaper and funny while the other wants the money and hasn’t got time for jokes.
We learn about other two women that are mentioned in the story who are considered trouble-makers as well: the girl in the red dress and a “tart” on whose account a childhood friend of Lennie and George is in prison. As most of female characters in the novel, we don’t know their names. First woman is introduced by George as the “girl in a red dress” (page 47). The author uses one more time the red colour that represents danger – the only colour mentioned in the book. We don’t know anything else about the second women, only that she is a “tart”. This reinforces once again the writer and men attitude to women during the Great Depression.
There are two different visions of women in the novel: the writer’s view of women and the men’s view of women. Steinbeck is an invisible author. He masterfully combines the narrative and dialogue styles to create detailed descriptions and characters through which he expresses his attitude to the 1930s society. Curley’s wife is introduced using a dialogue between George and Candy, but when she is seen for the first time by the men on the farm the writer uses a narrative description. We also understand the writer’s vision from the way in which the characters act and speak or from the way in which he uses symbolism and imagery to create scenes, for example, the imagery of sunlight and darkness.
Generally, men tend to see women through the novel with contempt and fear considering them as dangerous sexual temptations. Women are often referred to as “tarts”, a word with a very negative connotation that means “tramp”. Curley’s wife is introduced by Candy as a “tart’ who “got the eye” (page 31). Lennie and George have a childhood friend who is in prison “on account of a tart” (page 63). Also their own troubles result from a tempting attitude of two women: the woman in Weed and Curley’s wife.
Being called “tart”, “tramp” and “jail bait” from the first time when they are seen or mentioned in the story, it is a sign of prejudice. Men judge them from the first sight without knowing them well. Men assume that Curley’s wife is a “tramp”. “Jesus, what a tramp” (page 35) says George when he sees her in the bunk house. In the contrary, Curley’s wife assumes that men are useless. “I seen too many you guys.” (page 89) This reveals that men and women didn’t understand each other in that era.
Each character through the book can be seen as symbolizing a broader population. The two characters of Lennie and George are practically opposite both physically and mentally. Lennie is symbolizing the wise fool - the powerful man who hasn’t grown up mentally, a childlike man who is not aware of his physical power and is not able to control himself. In the contrary, George is symbolic of the everyday man – the type of normal person, reasonable smart, who is found everywhere and whose feelings and actions are not exceptional or terrible.
George’s attitude to women in the novel seems to be very basic and biased. He is convinced that women are always the cause of men’s problems as they tempt them to behave in such a way that they wouldn’t act without being provoked. He uses very unpleasant metaphors when he talks about Curley’s wife, such as “jail bail” and “rat-trap”. Using the word “jail bait” (page 58), George recognises her as a trouble-maker right from the start. The word “rat-trap” (page ??) is also another harsh metaphor to describe her. The hard sounds of the “t” and “p” added to the harshness of the words show how George uses cruel words to degrade the women.
He expresses respect only for one woman in the book. This represents the maternal figure personified by Aunt Clara, whose charge to take care of Lennie he takes on as a responsibility. He seems to respect the prostitutes as well. As himself states, “you pay for what you get” (page ??) and seems to be pleased with this lifestyle, but he also dreams at a girl for himself. “I could live so easy and maybe have a girl.” (page ??) According to the prejudice at that time, she is expected to comply with the 1930s rules of being a submissive wife but also she is seen as an innocent and beautiful woman.
Lennie is the only character who is innocent enough not to realize the danger that the women can represent. In contrast with George’s attitude, when Lennie sees Curley’s wife the first time, his ”eyes moved down over her body” (page 35) and “watched her, fascinated”. (page 35). In his innocence, Lennie often speaks honestly where others won’t. “She’s purty” says Lennie “defensively” (page 35) in reply to George’s words after she left the bunk house. He tries to listen to what George says about ignoring her, but his curiosity is too strong and the consequences of his innocent mistake cause his once again unexpected trouble. After he accidently kills her, he is more worried that he did another “bad thing” and George will be disappointed of him more than being aware of the seriousness of his action. This reveals how less important were women for the men.
By contrast, Lennie’s aunt Clara has a huge impact on him. Although he hardly remembers about her early in the story, when he talks to her it is in a respectful way. We can see that Lennie respects Aunt Clara from the way he talks to her in his dream in the last pages of the novel. He calls her “ma’am”.
Curley symbolizes the anxious little man who may feel inferior because of his physical appearance and who tries to overcompensate by inflating and showing off his power. He wants to be the big bad boss, but this is just a dream. He doesn’t like anybody and nobody likes him. His attitude to women is unflattering as well.
He treats his wife more as a possession than as a human being. We find from Candy that Curley’s glove is “fulla vaseline.” (page 31) This represents a “dirty thing to tell around” as George says. This shows that their marriage is not happy and Curley sees his wife more as a trophy than as a woman. He is possessive but disinterested in the same time of his wife. He goes in town at ‘Susy’s place’ on weekend nights and nobody on the ranch criticizes him for spending the nights in a brothel even the couple have been married for only two weeks.
The only time when they are in the same room is when Curley’s wife is dead, which is just for a short time as Curley is more interested in searching for Lennie rather than being with his wife. “I’ll kill the big son-of-a-beach myself.” (page 109) He is more furious because that “huge” guy broke his possession than his wife is dead.
The only man who is not afraid of Curley and his wife is Slim. Introduced by Steinbeck using a narrative description, he is “the prince of the ranch” (page 37) who is respected by everyone. He symbolizes the leader - that a few men who are very skilled, have a great authority and a good understanding of the way in which life and death work.
His attitude to women is more calmly and relaxing that the other men on the ranch. He greets Curley’s wife with “Hi, Good-lookin’”. (page 35) recognizing in front of the men that Curley’s wife is a beautiful woman. Also he is a handsome man and Curley’s wife seems to be specially attracted by him. He is the only man that she calls by name in the story. ”I’m trying to find Curley, Slim.” (page 35) Slim is also a trustful man who gains Geoge’s respect and he confesses him their problems with the woman in Weed. As most of the men on the ranch, a visit to the Susy’s brothel is enough of women for Slim and he has no desire for a female companion or wife. He seems to be accepted him status as a worker on the ranch and be pleased with his life.
Candy is symbolic for people who are discriminated because of their age. Similar to other men on the farm, his attitude to Curley’s wife is hostile and fearful. He expresses his negative opinion towards her from the beginning. ‘Well, I think that Curley has married... a tart’. (page 31) Also he is an old and weak men who is afraid of the consequences of having her around. When Curley’s wife come into Crooks room, he says: “You gotta husban’. You got no foolin’ aroun’ with other guys causin’ trouble.” (page 88).
Crooks is symbolic for people who are discriminated because of their race. He represents the weakest men in the American society of 1930s. His attitude to women is completely different to others in the novel. He is afraid of everyone, men or women, just because he is black. Even though she is a woman, Curleys wife has more authority over Crooks.”Well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.”, she says in Crooks room in the barn.
Lennie, Candy and Crooks represent three discriminated categories of people in the 1930s society. They don’t go to the whorehouse with the other men on Friday evenings. Because of their handicap, age or race they are considered at the bottom at the society even in their relationship with the women.
Finally, Curley’s wife symbolizes the Eve – the woman who brings sin and death to the world, as the Biblical story states.
Steinbeck’s style is a combination of poetic and realistic. It is simple and forward with a few long sentences. His style uses detailed descriptions with smiles and imagery. For example, the smile “little rolled clusters, like sausages” is used to describe Curley’s wife; the imagery of natural and artificial light, the sunshine and darkness are used to create scenes in the novel. The language is direct, colloquial, ungrammatical and contains slang words like “jail bait” or “rat-trap”.
In conclusion, I think that Steinbeck explores a wide range of attitudes towards women in the novel Of Mice and Men. He uses his characters to show how the men were stereotyping the women and the women were stereotyping the men in the 1930s society and how each puts the others’ dream down through his or her actions. The portrayal of women is unflattering. He uses Curley’s wife and the other women mentioned in the story to show how women are isolated and degraded in a male-centered society.
