“Wha’s the matter with me?” she cried. “Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody? Whatta they think I am, anyways?” (Steinbeck 87) In the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Curley’s wife is discriminated against because she is a woman living in the 1930’s when few females could live economically independent of men. By choosing not to name her, Steinbeck reinforces her insignificance on the ranch and her dependence on Curley. While a misfortunate victim of isolation, Curley’s wife exerts unexpected power attempting to mask her pain.
While Crooks, a victim of racial prejudice, expresses his isolation openly, he also socializes with the other workers on the job and while playing horseshoes with them. Curley’s wife, on the other hand, …show more content…
By threatening Crooks, Curley’s wife is able to show how much power she has: “Well, you keep your place then, n*****. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny” (81). When Curley’s wife suggests that she can get Crooks killed, it expresses how she has a higher social status than the stable hand which is considered unusual in the 1930’s. Furthermore, she is married to the boss’s son which only increases her power and allows her to do more with it. Even after Curley’s wife passes away, she still continues to have power on the ranch: “You god d*** tramp. You done it, di’n’t you? I s’pose you’re glad. Ever’body knowed you’d mess things up. You wasn’t no good. You ain’t no good now, you lousy tart” (95). Curley’s wife's death was a result of her using her sexual charm to coax Lennie into going against the warnings of the men on the ranch. With all the problems Curley’s wife caused on the ranch while she was alive, she still had an impact on things going on around the ranch after her death. Unfortunately, Curley’s wife wields what power she holds to threaten Crooks and Candy, and the men ultimately ignore her playful advances, unwilling to lose their livelihoods by upsetting a jealous …show more content…
She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages. She wore a cotton house dress and red mules, on the intersteps of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers” (31). In this scene, Steinbeck’s description of Curley’s wife confirms for readers the derogatory comments made by Candy earlier in the story. Ironically, in death, Steinbeck describes a different woman: “And the meanness and the plannings and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face. She was very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young. Now her rouged cheeks and her reddened lips made her seem alive and sleeping very lightly” (92-93). In other words, Steinbeck suggests that she heavily made up her face to mask the pain she endured as an ignored female on a ranch full of men. Although she in not wholly likeable, Steinbeck attempts to gain readers’ sympathies for Curley’s wife by depicting the ambitious young girl before some strange man crushed her dream of becoming a movie star, and before she married Curley to spite her
While Crooks, a victim of racial prejudice, expresses his isolation openly, he also socializes with the other workers on the job and while playing horseshoes with them. Curley’s wife, on the other hand, …show more content…
By threatening Crooks, Curley’s wife is able to show how much power she has: “Well, you keep your place then, n*****. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny” (81). When Curley’s wife suggests that she can get Crooks killed, it expresses how she has a higher social status than the stable hand which is considered unusual in the 1930’s. Furthermore, she is married to the boss’s son which only increases her power and allows her to do more with it. Even after Curley’s wife passes away, she still continues to have power on the ranch: “You god d*** tramp. You done it, di’n’t you? I s’pose you’re glad. Ever’body knowed you’d mess things up. You wasn’t no good. You ain’t no good now, you lousy tart” (95). Curley’s wife's death was a result of her using her sexual charm to coax Lennie into going against the warnings of the men on the ranch. With all the problems Curley’s wife caused on the ranch while she was alive, she still had an impact on things going on around the ranch after her death. Unfortunately, Curley’s wife wields what power she holds to threaten Crooks and Candy, and the men ultimately ignore her playful advances, unwilling to lose their livelihoods by upsetting a jealous …show more content…
She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages. She wore a cotton house dress and red mules, on the intersteps of which were little bouquets of red ostrich feathers” (31). In this scene, Steinbeck’s description of Curley’s wife confirms for readers the derogatory comments made by Candy earlier in the story. Ironically, in death, Steinbeck describes a different woman: “And the meanness and the plannings and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face. She was very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young. Now her rouged cheeks and her reddened lips made her seem alive and sleeping very lightly” (92-93). In other words, Steinbeck suggests that she heavily made up her face to mask the pain she endured as an ignored female on a ranch full of men. Although she in not wholly likeable, Steinbeck attempts to gain readers’ sympathies for Curley’s wife by depicting the ambitious young girl before some strange man crushed her dream of becoming a movie star, and before she married Curley to spite her