Explore the way in which Steinbeck presents the relationships between between Curleys Wife and other characters in Of Mice and Men
Matthew Peers Explore the way in which Steinbeck presents the relationships between between Curley’s Wife and other characters in Of Mice and Men In the book Of Mice and Men the author John Steinbeck presents Curley’s Wife dramatically different to his other characters. Throughout the story she remains nameless, only known as ‘Curley’s Wife’ and yet she is constantly mentioned around the ranch. She wanders around gaining many different reactions from ‘she’s purty’ to ‘married a tart’. By presenting us with only one female character Steinbeck is suggesting that their is no real place for women on the ranch and their role in society is made clear. Steinbeck also never gives Curley’s Wife a name, this presents her as being Curley’s possession and nothing more. Curley’s Wife is introduced not by here appearance but in conversation between George and Candy. She is the only character Steinbeck introduces in this way, that is by being spoken of and described in detail, before being met by George and Lennie. In chapter 2 Candy begins to describe Curley’s relationship with his wife. ‘Married two weeks and got the eye? Maybe that’s why Curley’s pants is full of ants.’ Steinbeck tells us here that the couple do not have a strong relationship at all and suggests that Curley’s Wife has become bored with her new husband and she has turned to the
How does Steinbeck reveal the State of the US in the 1930s in Of Mice and Men?
How does Steinbeck reveal the State of the US in the 1930s in "Of Mice and Men?" Steinbeck reveals rascism and segregation of black people in America at this time through "Of Mice and Men" and in this passage. Steinbeck shows the importance of relationship, we can see this through George and Lennie's and also the unsentimental features faced from being a migrant worker. Throughout "Of Mice and Men" Steinbeck shows very pragmatic scenes, such as the killing of Candy's dog, who now "stinks" and Carlson says "he ain't no good to you" due to heaving "rheumatism" and "He don't have no fun." Carlson, in fact takes in the idea of shooting the dog despite Candy's obvious attraction to the dog who was "the best damn sheep dog I ever seen," this pragmatic approach of shooting the dog is also later scene in the ranch when Slim "drowned four" puppies "right off" because the dog "couldn't feed that many," showing a casual attitude towards life and death, and a very unsentimental one. George and Lennie's relationship and their idea to live off the "fatta land" reflects the way so many migrants in America in the 1930s hoped to own a farm, and this attitude was called the American Dream: the idea that anyone could achieve anything. This stemmed from the US Declaration of Rights, where every person has the right to "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." Furthermore this was due to
How does Steinbeck present the characters of George and Lennie, and their relationship, in Section 1 of the novel?
How does Steinbeck present the characters of George and Lennie, and their relationship, in Section 1 of the novel? As the first characters to be introduced in the novel, Steinbeck needs to present George and Lennie in a way which explains in great detail about who they are and their relationship with each other and the novel itself. I am exploring how Steinbeck presents their characters and their relationship through examining their individual characters and their relationship as a whole. The first thing that Steinbeck mentions about George and Lennie is their appearance. "Both were dressed in denim trousers and in denim coats with brass buttons. Both wore black, shapeless hats and both carried tight blanket rolls slung over their shoulders." In the era in which this book was set, denim was the hallmark of workers, and as they are carrying blanket rolls, it is evident that they are migrant workers, moving from ranch to ranch. Steinbeck chooses to describe George first; this may connote George being the head of the two of them, almost a parent figure. George is described as being "small and quick, dark of face with restless eyes and sharp, strong features." This shows that he's quite fit and athletic, perhaps used to this sort of traveling as a migrant worker. His "restless eyes" tell the reader that, although he has been traveling for probably a long time, he is
Is Curleys wife a tragic figure?
Is Curley's wife a tragic figure? Throughout the book 'Of Mice and Men', Steinbeck portrays the character of Curley's wife as unfortunate and a bit of an outcast. 'Well you keep away from her, cause she's a rattrap if ever I seen one'. But to what extent can she be regarded as a tragic character? The first time we hear about Curley's wife, she is described as a 'tart' by another farm worker. This is because she is lonely so she hangs around the other farm workers wearing 'red mules' with 'red ostrich feathers' and 'red finger nails'. Steinbeck uses the colour red to show she is dressing like a 'tart' because the colour red at the time was associated with prostitutes. 'I ain't never seen nobody like her'. The ranch hands, however, want nothing to do with her, so they ignore her, and so she becomes an outcast. 'Curley's wife can sure move quiet. I guess she's had a lot of practice, though'. The reason they do not want to be seen with her is because she is married to Curley, a 'pugnacious' little man, who is very possessive. '"Have you seen a girl around here?" he demanded angrily'. The fact that Steinbeck never gave Curley's wife a name other than 'Curley's wife' is to show that she belongs to Curley. It shows her as his possession rather than a separate person. To get attention, she dresses up and hangs around the workers when Curley is not there. However, none of the farm
How does Stainbeck use the characters Curley's wife and crooks to explore at least 2 of the themes in "Of mice and men"?
How does Stainbeck use the characters Curley's wife and crooks to explore at least 2 of the themes in "Of mice and men"? The novel "of mice and men" is based on broken dreams. This book was written about the 1930's when slavery has just been abolished. This book is also about the discrimination of women, so not only black people were treated unfair but also women were. In the 1930's the men were in charge of their wives. Staeinbeck attracts the reader's interest by exploring different kinds of themes. It is obvious that these themes are primarily negative, for example loneliness and isolation, broken dreams, prejudice and outcast, exploitation, victims of the time and insecurity. All of these themes give the impression that this book is about sadness and loneliness. Steinbeck uses characters to explore these themes such as Crooks and Curley's wife. Everyone has dreams. Dreams are very powerful and are strong desires that in the novel are most of the time very fragile. Curley's wife has a dream to become a movie star and make something of her self from when she was 15. An actor made her believe that she could be a great movie star 'he says I could go with that show.' - the actor had flirted with her instead of being honest with her but being the teenage-believe-in-anything-kind-of-girl, she fell for it. He was only taking advantage of her looks and her naivety. The first time
Of Mice and Men: In a letter .John Steinbeck Wrote of Curleys wife: Shes a nice girl and not a floozy. Discuss and explain your own impression of Curleys wife.
Task ‘Of Mice and Men’: In a letter .John Steinbeck Wrote of Curley’s wife: ‘She’s a nice girl and not a floozy.’ Discuss and explain your own impression of Curley’s wife. In ‘Of Mice and Men’ John Steinbeck describes Curley’s wife as a character of many contradictions she is shown as both a nice girl and a floozy; lonely yet vindictive; Motherly but also seductive. In this essay I will try to discuss both of her sides. Throughout the novel Curley’s wife acts and dresses as a floozy; in the very beginning when we first see her she is dressed up nice and has her nails painted red which in those days was a sign of danger, she dresses in very good quality clothes and takes care of herself much more then she should as she is in a ranch full of men and has chores as all the women those days had. She spends too much time on her appearance, in the novel it says she has rouge lips, hair in little sausages, and not only is she dressed very nice, she also acts very seductive by showing off her womanly parts ‘she put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so her body was thrown forward’. She leans against the door frame teasing the men, she knows she will get lots of attention because she is a young pretty girl and the men are always in the ranch and she is the only girl there. She also talks very flirtatiously with the men as she says
Of Mice and Men - Crooks Monologue
Of Mice and Men Character: Crooks Loneliness is a disease. It eats away at people slowly, gradually tearing them limb from limb. It is a virus that send some people insane, some turn senile, I am lonely no friends, no one to talk to either. Crazy old world these days isn't it when even a black Negro cannot have his own privacy in his own room well that's what I like to call it my room. Maybe it happened to be a good thing that day the fact my privacy was over ruled by a white, strong, tall disheartened lost and confused male or maybe it was just pure ignorance. Either way I got to talk to someone well when I say talk to I may as well have been talking to myself but nevermind he was human!!. His name was Lennie he was a crazy bastard always talking about George this great magnificent person who Lennie thought was God was going to let him tend the rabbits on the land they planned to buy when I say planned I mean dreamed. Everyone had this dream work a month or to get the money and buy land but that's all it was a dream. George had got this idea into Lennies head and that's all he would talk about until you started to talk about George. This is when I realised that George was really special to Lennie even more special than them damn rabbits. I sat there trying to torment this vulnerable fellow just for my self enjoyment really and I hit a nerve
Of Mice and Men - Life in America in the 1930's…
Of Mice and Men - Life in America in the 1930's... "Of mice and men" by John Steinbeck tells the story of life in 1930's America during the great depression, about the dreams, lifestyle, racism and sexism, which had become a way of life for the characters in Steinbeck's book. I will be discussing these points to determine exactly what life in 1930's American was like. Life in 1930's America was very lonely, George tells us that "...guys like us...are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place...". Many of the other ranch hands share the same feeling. This is also made apparent by the fact that most people think that there has to be something wrong if two men travel together because nobody takes that much care of somebody else, Slim's comment to this is "... I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy..." George and Lennie's new boss is also suspicious, he asks George, referring to Lennie, "...what stake you got in this guy?..." George feels he has to lie and tells the boss that Lennie is " ...my...Cousin...". The other ranch hands don't interact with each other this is shown when Candy says to George "...a guy on the ranch don't never listen nor he don't ask no questions..." this quote emphasises how private the menn keep their lives. Slim is an exception to this as he is always willing to talk if others wish to. However
How does Steinbeck use animals to show the themes in "Of Mice and Men
How does Steinbeck use animals to show the main themes in "Of Mice and Men?" This story is about two men (George and Lennie) and their desperate hope in that they will raise enough money so that they can purchase a plot of land and "live of the fatta the land". In this essay I will discuss how Steinbeck uses animals to show the themes of, friendship/loneliness, anger/violence, cruelty/kindness and dreams. The main points that I will be discussing are, how Lennie connects with animals, how Steinbeck portrays loneliness through animals, how the American dream fuels and directs the story, how Crooks is treated like an animal and has animal instincts himself, how killing of animals foreshadows the story, how Steinbeck uses animals to symbolize or reflect different emotions the characters are experiencing and the way Lennie is killed at the end which summarises that Lennie connects with animals in the most devastating way. At the beginning of the story Lennie is drinking from the pool as though he is an animal. "Drank with big long gulps, snorting into the water like a horse", this straight away reveals to us that Lennie has animal instincts. When Lennie and George arrive at the ranch, immediately Curley begins to show aggression towards Lennie as an animal would do to protect it's territory, Curley tries to bait Lennie into having confrontation with him. This is the same
What is the significance of loneliness in Of Mice and Men?
What is the significance of loneliness in 'Of Mice and Men'? You should refer in detail to characters, setting and language 'Of Mice and Men' was written by John Steinbeck. It is based in the USA in the time period of the nineteen thirties. This was the time of The Great Depression when millions of people were left jobless and many had lost their life savings in the Wall Street crash of 1929. Therefore, for these reasons, many people were forced out of their homes. In the opening line of the novel, Steinbeck mentions the town of Soledad, which means loneliness in Spanish, as the setting for the story that is to follow. This shows the reader that loneliness is an important theme in the novel. We learn that George and Lennie are itinerant workers because they mention 'goin' to Murray and Ready's'; these were a chain of employment agencies set up by the US government, to help people in their situation during the economic depression which followed the financial crash. George and Lennie are given a job on a ranch and bus tickets for travelling. As with other itinerant workers who had to travel from one short-term job to another, they do not have a permanent home. This situation highlights the theme of loneliness because they do not live in a settled community and so have to travel to new places to look for work. Before they reach the ranch, George and Lennie sleep outside in
