Society’s Playdough: The Individual Author Clay Shirky once said, “The tools that a society uses to create and maintain itself are as central to human life as a hive is to bee life. Though the hive is no part of any individual bee, it is part of the colony, both shaped by and shaping the lives of its inhabitants.” Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck shows how society is separate from one’s self, yet shapes the lives of its individuals. Steinbeck uses the only women in the novella to show how society influences one’s self. He refers to her as “Curley’s wife,” giving her no name throughout the book. As a result of her being nameless, it is as if the characters are referring to her as Curley’s property, rather than as an individual. Through her
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Steinbeck, when first introducing the wife, only describes her physical appearance. He says, “A girl was standing there...She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes...Her fingernails were red...She wore a cotton house dress and red mules,” (Steinbeck 31). Curley’s wife’s introduction did not include any mention of her personality. Her physical appearance was used to show how that time period only cared about women as objects. This sculpts the individual because she is forced to improve her physical appearance for attention by dressing to please the male eye. The idea that there is more to a person than just the surface is generated through the introduction of the complexity of the character of Curley’s wife later in the novella. Similarly, she is shown as having a need for attention in the book as a result of being characterized as property. She states, “I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad...Wha’s the matter with me?...Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody?” (Steinbeck 87). In her marriage, Curley feels that she should only talk to him. This idea of restriction shows that she is viewed as a thing and Curley’s property. The injustice present is that she is not property or a thing, she is a human just like everyone else, but instead, is expected to live a restrained life. Steinbeck …show more content…
Throughout the whole book, characters on the ranch constantly criticized her of being a problem and a nuisance. Candy says to her dead body, “You God damn 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,” (Steinbeck 95). Even after Curley’s wife was suffocated to death, Candy still blamed her for her own demise and told her dead body that she had it coming. Her life was defined by society continually preparing her to be eye-candy, but at the same time referring to her as a slut, rendering her lonely. This caused her to have a need for attention which directly relates to her death because she was only looking for someone to talk to and give her attention in that barn when Lennie killed her. The death of Curley’s wife’s and Candy’s reaction demonstrate the importance of never judging a person based off the surface. Furthermore, the people of the ranch were also ignorant in the fact that they missed their opportunity to see her true self. In the novella it says, “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,” (Steinbeck 93). At her death, Curley’s wife returned to her natural state. The ignorant people of the farm immediately overlook her
Steinbeck, when first introducing the wife, only describes her physical appearance. He says, “A girl was standing there...She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes...Her fingernails were red...She wore a cotton house dress and red mules,” (Steinbeck 31). Curley’s wife’s introduction did not include any mention of her personality. Her physical appearance was used to show how that time period only cared about women as objects. This sculpts the individual because she is forced to improve her physical appearance for attention by dressing to please the male eye. The idea that there is more to a person than just the surface is generated through the introduction of the complexity of the character of Curley’s wife later in the novella. Similarly, she is shown as having a need for attention in the book as a result of being characterized as property. She states, “I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad...Wha’s the matter with me?...Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody?” (Steinbeck 87). In her marriage, Curley feels that she should only talk to him. This idea of restriction shows that she is viewed as a thing and Curley’s property. The injustice present is that she is not property or a thing, she is a human just like everyone else, but instead, is expected to live a restrained life. Steinbeck …show more content…
Throughout the whole book, characters on the ranch constantly criticized her of being a problem and a nuisance. Candy says to her dead body, “You God damn 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,” (Steinbeck 95). Even after Curley’s wife was suffocated to death, Candy still blamed her for her own demise and told her dead body that she had it coming. Her life was defined by society continually preparing her to be eye-candy, but at the same time referring to her as a slut, rendering her lonely. This caused her to have a need for attention which directly relates to her death because she was only looking for someone to talk to and give her attention in that barn when Lennie killed her. The death of Curley’s wife’s and Candy’s reaction demonstrate the importance of never judging a person based off the surface. Furthermore, the people of the ranch were also ignorant in the fact that they missed their opportunity to see her true self. In the novella it says, “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,” (Steinbeck 93). At her death, Curley’s wife returned to her natural state. The ignorant people of the farm immediately overlook her