Description Of Curley's Wife

Steinbeck 's novel 'Of Mice and Men ' is set in 1930s America during the dust bowl and The Great Depression. In the novel Steinbeck introduces the reader to many different characters. One of the characters we are introduced to is Curley 's wife who is represented as a very lonely and selfish person. Steinbeck also portrays Curley 's wife as a dangerous and cautious person towards others working at the ranch, so a reader throughout the novel would have ideas about her.Reflecting the preconceived society, Steinbeck 's novels is a microcosm Blacks people were seen as 'nobody 's '; they had no rights.Curley 's wife represents that women too had only a few rights. People within these categories had fallen into isolation and loneliness just like …show more content…
The author uses adjectives such as 'seductive ', 'red dress ', 'red lips ' and also other phrases like 'red ostrich feather ' or 'red mules ' ,that tells us that she likes to dresses very attractively, this is unusual for a ranch owners wife. Most of the ranch workers call her a 'tart ' or 'jailbait ' due to the way she dresses. The adjectives used make us think of passion or love because of the colour red, which is also a colour that suggests danger and cautions. we understand this as she is a danger to the jobs of the ranch workers because if they talk or interact with her, then they may get sacked by Curley, in addition to this she is very lonely, Curley 's wife is very aggressive when it comes to achieving her needs and desires, because of this she does not belong at the ranch and stands out just like the colour red.The message Steinbeck is trying to get across with this is that life as workers like George and Lennie is very difficult, and maybe, in order to to fulfil your needs, danger and aggression may be an option. For example Curley 's wife, has become very bitter due to her loneliness and unfulfilled …show more content…
She only gets negative attention, but it is the only attention she can get because she can 't get the attention which she desires to get from being in the limelight, this links to her American dream to be a film star. The ranch hands don 't give her this positive attention because they think a “ranch with a bunch of guys on it" isn 't suitable for a girl "specially like her.” Steinbeck uses this to hint and foreshadow at the sad ending of her life. Curleys wife is unaware of the pain she is causing and is unaware that she is casting shadows, in addition to this it is ironic that when she dies, the light leaves