How does Steinbeck use the characters of Crooks and Curleys wife to explore 2 of the themes in

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How does Steinbeck use the Characters of Curley’s Wife and Crooks to explore two of the themes in “Of Mice and Men”?

        “Of Mice and Men” is Steinbeck’s original creation of two men living in the 1930’s. There are many themes in “Of Mice and Men” such as Loneliness/isolation and Dreams. In this essay I will be using the characters of Curley’s Wife and Crooks to explore the concept of these two themes. Curley’s Wife is a flirtatious, lonely and misunderstood woman, and Crooks is a Stable buck who no-one talks to and who suffers the extreme racism of the 30’s. Just from these two descriptions of the characters, you can clearly see how the concept of loneliness and isolation comes into the story.

        The main theme of “Of Mice and Men” is dreams. Every character has one. Curley’s Wife wants to be in the movies and to have a husband that treats her like a person, and not just a possession. Crooks’ dream is to be treated as an equal and not just as a “Nigger”.

        You can tell that this is Crooks’ dream because in chapter 4, there is a section that says “And he had books, too; a tattered dictionary and a mauled copy of the California civil code for 1905”, the verbs “tattered” and “mauled” exaggerate the fact that he knows his rights and yet he can’t do anything about it. The use of these verbs has told the readers that Crooks has read them both a lot. Also in chapter 4, Crooks has a long conversation with Lennie and tells him” I ain’t wanted in the bunk house, and you ain’t wanted in my room.”, and when Lennie asks why Crooks isn’t wanted, he scowls back “Cause I’m black.”. This proves that because he’s black he isn’t wanted to go in the bunk house so he decided to say the same thing and won’t let anyone in his room except Slim. The way he scowls at Lennie also tells us that Crooks knows he should be treated better but isn’t treated as an equal. This point also backs up the theme of Loneliness and isolation which I am talking about later in this essay.

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        Curley’s Wife’s dream is to become a movie star or to have a husband who is nice to her. Her first dream is shattered by her mum “He says I could go with that show. But my ol’ lady wouldn’t let me.” She would rather be off in a show than with Curley and by the way she is dressed this quote is backed up perfectly. If she was comfortable living on a ranch then she would be wearing dungarees and rubber boots, not dresses and high heels. But if you read this section you will realise that she never ...

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