Women In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

According to James Truslow Adams, the definition of the American Dream states, “Life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with equal opportunity for each according to ability or achievement, regardless of social class or circumstances of birth” ( ). An individual’s “American Dream” can be very different from another’s, but each one consists of hopes and dreams for every man, woman, and child. Thus, every single one is significantly important in a person’s life. However, during the 1930s many people in America did not view people and their dreams to be equal. One man by the name of John Steinbeck decided to express his thoughts against the prejudice society by putting his thoughts into an extraordinary story that shows people the harsh treatment against women, the …show more content…
Through the use of allusion, imagery, symbolism, and metaphor, Steinbeck creates the beautifully crafted novella Of Mice and Men that makes all readers reconsider how specific categories of people are systematically …show more content…
Through the use of symbolism, Steinbeck is able to display how women were viewed and how sexism was a major problem during that time. Steinbeck illustrates Curley’s wife to be nothing but trouble for the men at the ranch. “She’s gonna make a mess. They’s gonna be a bad mess about her. She’s a jail bait all set on the trigger. That Curley got his work cut out for him. Ranch with a bunch of guys on it ain’t no place for a girl, specially like her” (Steinbeck 51). Steinbeck depicts Curley’s wife to look like a whore and as a woman with no relevance, which justifies the fact that she was never given a name in the first place. Multiple times in the story Curley is out and about looking for his wife, also portraying her to be a hassle and threat to all the men on the ranch. Symbolism allows Steinbeck to make Curley’s wife an archetype of women and how they were seen during the Great