Loneliness In Curley's Wife, By John Steinbeck

Improved Essays
“Guys like us, that work on ranches are the most loneliest guys in world” (Steinbeck 13). Loneliness is one of the most cruelest emotions. Loneliness doesn’t necessarily mean you are alone. Like Crooks and George, many feel isolated even when surrounded by others. A person can be in a marriage and still feel unloved and unworthy like Curley 's wife. The book is placed in Soledad, California. Two men named Lennie and George are trying to find a job so they can make their dream come true. They finally end up getting a job at a ranch. They sleep, eat and work at the ranch.At the end of the week they get payed about ten dollars. A man named Curley is in charge of the ranch. He has a wife, but they do not talk or see each other a lot because they …show more content…
In this quote Curley’s wife walks into the room wanting to talk to someone, but all the men are afraid they will get in trouble if they talk to her. The men are afraid that if they talk to her then she will say something to Curley about how the men were bothering her. “ Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awfully lonely.”( Steinbeck 86) Curley’s wife has no one to talk to except for Curley. She doesn’t even like him because he is rude and careless. Curley’s wife is upset that she has to live at the ranch. She has nobody to have a conversation with. Another example of Curley’s wife being lonely is when she shares her dreams with Lennie “ I gotta live. I tell you I ain’t used to livin’ like this. I could of made something of myself” ( Steinbeck 88). She doesn’t like the lifestyle she is living right now. She wants to have friends, be an actress. Loneliness affects Curley’s wife by her wanting to express her emotions to others. She wants someone to talk to her because she is tired of being bored, being so quiet. Curley’s wife is desperate for someone to talk to her. If she could find someone to talk to she wouldn’t be as lonely as she …show more content…
In this quote George “ I ain’t got no people “ ( Steinbeck 41). George only has Lennie in his life. Lennie doesn’t really talk to him other than about his dreams, and how he is so excited to tend the rabbits. Another example of George being lonely is “ You can’t keep a job and you lose me ever’ job I get” ( Steinbeck 11). George blames Lennie that he can’t ever keep a job.Lennie is always getting into trouble wherever they go. At one point in the book Lennie sees this girls dress and thinks that it could be soft. He loves to touch soft items. He goes over there to see if he could feel this girls dress. She allows him to but then she tell him to stop and he then he doesn’t know what to do, so he he holds on. She starts to scream asking for help and then George and Lennie have to run away because she told the police that he was going to rape her. George couldn’t keep the job because they had to escape from the town. He never gets to settle at a place and get to know new people. George has no family nor someone to really talk to, he is very lonesome.
Curley’s wife, Crooks and George all have one thing in common which is loneliness. Curley’s wife is desperate for someone to talk with. Crooks is discriminated because of his color, and not being able to talk to anyone. George has no family and is always traveling and isn’t able to get to know people. Loneliness is one

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Curley’s Wife plays a major part to the theme of loneliness. She’s a woman who is always heavily made up, with her hair in sausage curls along with wearing clothes that isn’t fit for a ranch. Many of the characters in the novel would talk badly about her, calling her a tart, jail bait, and trouble maker. The only reason that she is talked badly about, is because she is always trying to flirt with any man in the ranch, and the men of the ranch don’t want any problems with Curly, they try to ignore her, but many of them take it the wrong way, she is only trying to find someone to talk to, because she is lonely up in the house, with Curley not even giving her any attention.…

    • 132 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    (73) All the men get mad when she tries to talk to them and are tired of both of them asking for each other because they just want to get there work done. Curley’s wife doesn’t like to be alone. No one does. “ Think I don’t like to talk to somebody every once in awhile”.…

    • 929 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This quote informs everyone that reads the novel that Curley’s Wife is lonely, as everyone shows her a mass of discriminative behaviour because she is a female that gets into trouble. Curley's Wife represents temptation to the men that work on the farm. This si the main reason nobody really wants to go around her, as if they do something with…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Curley’s wife is very lonely, she married Curley and by evidence living with him might be a hostile environment. She talked about other opportunities she had in life, but someone always declined her right to work to that opportunity. Curley’s wife is also ignored and not welcomed among the ranch hands. They call her jailbait and whenever she tries to talk to one of them they send her off. Her loneliness is derived from people having power over her since she was a woman in that time.…

    • 769 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    She is very rude and has the “eye” for other men. Curley never talks to his wife in addition she feels lonely. She gets “lonely” because she ‘“can’t talk to nobody but Curley. ”’(68) Since Curley’s wife is the only woman on the ranch, she faces loneliness.…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    She dresses up and wears tons of makeup. Curley’s wife intimidates men by her beauty, making her get whatever she wants. Curley’s wife is isolated by others by being alone and her not being able to express her feelings towards others. “Why can’t I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody.…

    • 862 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely” (Steinbeck 86). Lennie doesn’t know any better and he is the only one she can talk to and doesn’t look away; she likes it. She gets closer to Lennie, which makes Lennie nervous, and he accidently kills her. Curley’s wife seeks for attention and ends up…

    • 583 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Curley’s Wife has a life devoid of real companionship because of her relationship with her husband, “Well I ain’t told this to nobody before. Maybe I ought’n to. I don’ like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella.” ” (Steinbeck 89).…

    • 594 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Curley’s wife is the loneliest of any individual on the ranch as she is not only secluded from everyone by her husband but she is also the sole female on the ranch and has no contact with the outside world. Although she is able to roam the ranch, Curley is always on the lookout for her to be around the men and does not allow her to spend much time alone with them and prohibits her from speaking to them. Curley’s status, rather than size, intimidates the ranch workers so…

    • 1229 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    All great novels have conflicts in them; John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men is no exception to this. Steinbeck’s main character, George, faces many different problems throughout the story. Some of George’s conflicts are internal, while others are external. Although George faces many struggles he always seems to be able to think of a solution. George’s struggles, whether internal or external, are problems none of us would ever imagine.…

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Candy feels both types of loneliness, having nobody to take care of and nobody to take care of him. Curley’s wife feels the loneliness of being alone just like Crooks. The people that are most lonely is the three that I just listed Crooks,Candy and Curley’s wife. Candy is a lonely old man. His dog dying took a big toll on him because the dog was like his family.…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In his novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck illustrates the lonesomeness of workers on farms. His subtlety portrays the effects loneliness has on a man. The need for companionship is deep seeded in the human soul. People are meant to be with other people, not alone.…

    • 1165 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    As mentioned before, Curley’s wife is constantly trying to find company. Every single time she walks into the room, all the guys become defensive, rude, and demand that she should leave. Curley’s wife says to the men, “If I catch any one man, and he's alone, I get along fine with him. But just let two of the guys get together an’ you won't talk. Jus’ nothing but mad” (77).…

    • 912 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Loneliness and isolation are both factors of depression, ironically with this story in The Great Depression. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, set in The Great Depression, George and Lennie get a job at a ranch after previous failed attempts at other jobs due to Lennie’s childlike disorder. They start to get used to their jobs alongside with Crooks, Candy, and Curley and his wife. Lennie’s childlike disorder, however, caused him to accidentally murder Curley’s wife, which ultimately led to his own death. Steinbeck’s description and dialogue expresses his attitude that loneliness and isolation were caused both by social barriers and personal choice, which in some cases, led to death.…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Curley's Wife Analysis

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages

    “ I’m jus’ lookin’ for somebody to talk to, don’t you ever just want to talk to somebody well I got nobody to talk to”(Curley’s wife 325). Curley’s wife just wants a friend and to make a conversation with someone. Curley’s wife was trying to make a conversation with Lennie. But everyone she tries to talk to are afraid to even look at her because of her jealous husband, Curley. Since, she is the only woman on the ranch and has nobody to talk to not even her own husband.…

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays