Sharon Wong
Phanthai
English 10
7 Oct 2013
Of Mice and Men Essay: Analyzing a character Many characters in the novel, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck have a purpose that they serve in the story. Steinbeck uses these characters to make an opinionated statement about society in the 19130’s. Curley’s wife is described throughout the novel as a very attractive woman, who has full roughed lips and wide spaced eyes, heavily made up. She had red fingernails and her hair was in curls like sausage Curley’s wife is viewed in the men’s eyes as flirtatious. However, I believe that her personal motive in the story was not trying to have an affair, but simply trying to have companionship and to have someone to talk to. Curley’s wife, being the only woman on the farm, feels lonely and is obligated to be a typical housewife that stays at home all day to cook and clean. However, Curley’s wife is not that type tamed woman that would sit still like that. She dreams of starring in movies and becoming famous. She had bigger dreams than just being a housewife and I think being the only woman on the farm stifles her. She looks to the men on the farm for friendship and companionship, but obviously they take it as flirting and in order to stay out of trouble with Curley, they stay away from her. This increases Curley’s wife’s loneliness. Curley’s wife represents women in the 1930’s during the Great Depression. Women in the 1930’s were seen by men as scheming and devious. John Steinbeck perceived Curley’s wife as this woman that causes trouble on the farm, which is the cause for the Lennie’s ultimate end. However, we can see at the end of the novel that Curley’s wife is not just this “troublemaker” which the men perceive her as. She opens herself up to Lennie and shares her dreams in life. It shows that she too, like the men on the farm, has dreams too. Curley’s wife was not given a name throughout the novel. She was only known as the “tramp”, “tart” or “bitch”, which were very provocative words. This also shows us how women were treated. They were seen as insignificant and
My Essay Many people have friends that contribute to their own destructions, but sometimes doing what’s right for the both of you may be easier said than done. Many people may not agree with Georges decision to kill Lennie at the end of the novel , Of Mice And Men, however throughout the entire book, the author, John Steinbeck, included several reasons that support the fact George had no other choice . It doesn’t take a lot to see why George had to kill Lennie. He consistently stayed in trouble…
Aaron Hoenig 11/7/12 4A Loneliness in Of Mice and Men One of the most important themes in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is loneliness. Multiple characters in this book are lonely, and all in very different ways. Lennie is a very lonely character. Because of his mental capacity people do not understand him. Curley’s wife is one of the most obvious lonely characters because the only person she can talk to is her husband. Another lonely character is George even though on the outside he does…
‘Of Mice and Men’personal study essay question;Discuss how the writer explores the main theme of loneliness in the novel and how this affects the characters. ‘Of Mice and Men’by John Steinbeck is about two young men named Lennie Small and George Milton who try and achieve the American dream. They aim to have their own farm and land and to live a better, ideal life style but it does not plan out how they wanted.At the start of the book Lennie and George’s strong friendship is instantly…
English Essay By Abbey Unger The novella ‘Of Mice & Men’ by John Steinbeck is a touching story of the friendship between two men set in the U.S during the 1930’s of the Great Depression. In this novel George was faced with a consequential decision to save Lennie from Curley’s wrath. The story follows two men who are travelling by foot to find work. They are faced with many social issues due to one character, Lennie, having a mental disability. Because of Lennie’s incredible strength…
As the only present female character in the story, Steinbeck’s ideas and conceptualizations involving women are expressed through Curley’s wife. She is portrayed as a tramp and a temptress, always looking to cause some trouble with her sexuality. Her destructiveness is apparent through the aggression she causes in Curley, as though it is all her fault. It may be argued that Steinbeck’s portrayal of women in the novella is sexist, limited, and misogynistic, as the female characters mentioned in the…
In ‘Of mice and Men’ Steinbeck uses each character to portray many themes and ideas. Some of the main themes in this novel are loneliness, shattered dreams and isolation. Despite Curley’s wife not being a main character she represents most of these themes. She is presented as a flirtatious, promiscuous and trouble-some woman who is a danger to the men on the ranch. This essay will explore the writer’s ideas and how both dislike and sympathy are created for Curley’s wife between the first and last…
little rolled clusters’, ‘like sausages’ was a simile used emphasize on the rolled clusters giving a true image to the shape of the curls. Curley’s wife came across as very flirtatious ‘Oh! She put hands...’ was thought as jailbait by most of the men. With the use of assonance with the words ‘looking’ and ‘looked’ it was as though she knew Lennie was looking at her, but it was almost as though she pretended not to notice by looking at her fingernails. She did however reply ‘playfully’ which is an…
This novella that I will be exploring is called ‘Of Mice and Men’ it is based in the 1930’s, it is mainly about two male’s travelling together finding jobs trying to live the American dream and in the thirties it was very bizarre to have two males wondering about looking for jobs because in those times it was every person for himself nobody cared for one or another. The presentation of Lennie is significant; he is shown as a child The author describes Lennie as if he is a bear, “a huge man shapeless…
In the novella Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck loneliness is a key theme and many characters show this trait. These characters are Curley’s wife, Crooks, Slim, George and Candy. Curley’s wife shows loneliness by always complaining about not being able to talk to anyone and she pesters everyone to talk to her. Crooks shows loneliness be talking to Lennie about what he would do if George didn’t come back from town and he is also the only black person there on the ranch (shows it is what Crooks is…
Of Mice And Men As a result from the Wall Street Crash in the world’s stock markets, 1930’s America had become a place of isolation and hardships. It was during this period that author John Steinbeck set his novel “Of Mice and Men” in attempt to highlight the struggle of man’s desperate search for work in which the compassionate nature of men was lost. This made loneliness almost inevitable because every man was trapped in their own hole trying to dig their way out. Back in the 1930’s, where…
