Dan Wolschlager
Mrs. Lutrell
English 11 American Literature
5 February, 2018
Total Destruction of the Female Role In the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, women are looked at as objects. Steinbeck crafts Curley’s wife’s character in order to demonstrate the effects of loneliness, also; by showing the incapability of women to have any success in life, making the idea of the American Dream unattainable for women of this era. Throughout this novella, Steinbeck perfectly displays the ways that women in the early 20th century never had a chance for their American Dream to ever come true. Women in this novella are dehumanized and made out to be lesser than human. They are simply an entity that is either used, or ignored. When Curley’s …show more content…
They are sexualized because of this. They server no other benefits to the men of the novella. While in the bunkhouse, a few of the men including George begin to talk about Curley and his wife. “Well that gloves fulla Vaseline.” “Vaseline? What the hell for?” “Well I tell ya what, Curley says he’s keeping that hand soft for his wife.” (27) Ever since Curley and his wife were introduced in the novella, Curley’s wife has been a piece of property. One may argue that Curley “keeping a hand soft for his wife” is not sexualizing her but in fact he is trying to please her. In today’s society one could argue this however, the time period that this takes place means that the only occurrence that would’ve been going on was the wife pleasing the husband. Curley’s wife is only good to Curley for sexual acts. Being a small, physically weaker man, Curly wouldn’t have ever found love. Because of this he used his position of power that he has to acquire this “property” known as his wife. There is no true love in this relationship, something that every woman one day dreams of having. Finding true love one day is taken away from her because her reputation is ruined. Her husband uses her and to everyone else she is seen as “jailbait” or “a rat …show more content…
She is inexperienced and doesn’t understand that her American Dream is unreachable. Like all women she has a dream of being a superstar, a model, someone beautiful. She thinks that her husband is holding her back. “I don’ like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella.” And because she had confided in him, she moved closer to Lennie and sat beside him. “Coulda been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes-all them nice clothes like they wear. An’ I coulda sat in them big hotels, an’ had pitchers took of me. When they had them previews I coulda went to them, an’ spoke in the radio, an’ it wouldn’ta cost me a cent because I was the pitcher. An’ all them nice clothes like they wear. Because this guy says I was a natural.” (89) This is a prime example of how a man will use a woman, and spit them back out. Curley’s wife was so convinced that she was meant for all of the stardome. She was blinded by lies. The Naiveness of women in the novella eliminates their chances of ever achieving their American Dream. Women are tricked by men, used as objects, then are forgotten about. These men leave the women, causing them to be lonely and to have a false hope of their American
Mrs. Lutrell
English 11 American Literature
5 February, 2018
Total Destruction of the Female Role In the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, women are looked at as objects. Steinbeck crafts Curley’s wife’s character in order to demonstrate the effects of loneliness, also; by showing the incapability of women to have any success in life, making the idea of the American Dream unattainable for women of this era. Throughout this novella, Steinbeck perfectly displays the ways that women in the early 20th century never had a chance for their American Dream to ever come true. Women in this novella are dehumanized and made out to be lesser than human. They are simply an entity that is either used, or ignored. When Curley’s …show more content…
They are sexualized because of this. They server no other benefits to the men of the novella. While in the bunkhouse, a few of the men including George begin to talk about Curley and his wife. “Well that gloves fulla Vaseline.” “Vaseline? What the hell for?” “Well I tell ya what, Curley says he’s keeping that hand soft for his wife.” (27) Ever since Curley and his wife were introduced in the novella, Curley’s wife has been a piece of property. One may argue that Curley “keeping a hand soft for his wife” is not sexualizing her but in fact he is trying to please her. In today’s society one could argue this however, the time period that this takes place means that the only occurrence that would’ve been going on was the wife pleasing the husband. Curley’s wife is only good to Curley for sexual acts. Being a small, physically weaker man, Curly wouldn’t have ever found love. Because of this he used his position of power that he has to acquire this “property” known as his wife. There is no true love in this relationship, something that every woman one day dreams of having. Finding true love one day is taken away from her because her reputation is ruined. Her husband uses her and to everyone else she is seen as “jailbait” or “a rat …show more content…
She is inexperienced and doesn’t understand that her American Dream is unreachable. Like all women she has a dream of being a superstar, a model, someone beautiful. She thinks that her husband is holding her back. “I don’ like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella.” And because she had confided in him, she moved closer to Lennie and sat beside him. “Coulda been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes-all them nice clothes like they wear. An’ I coulda sat in them big hotels, an’ had pitchers took of me. When they had them previews I coulda went to them, an’ spoke in the radio, an’ it wouldn’ta cost me a cent because I was the pitcher. An’ all them nice clothes like they wear. Because this guy says I was a natural.” (89) This is a prime example of how a man will use a woman, and spit them back out. Curley’s wife was so convinced that she was meant for all of the stardome. She was blinded by lies. The Naiveness of women in the novella eliminates their chances of ever achieving their American Dream. Women are tricked by men, used as objects, then are forgotten about. These men leave the women, causing them to be lonely and to have a false hope of their American