How Does Steinbeck Present the Character of Curleys Wife
How does Steinbeck present the character of Curleys Wife?
In this essay I am going to be assessing the character Curleys Wife from Steinbeck’s book Of Mice And Men. The book is set in the 1930s during the Great Depression it features two farm workers called George and Lennie. The travel around together in search of work sharing a dream of a place of their own, a small ranch where they can live and work for themselves. It tells the story of how violence may erupt to destroy those dreams. Curleys wife is a character in the book who from the brief encounters with her is presented in two ways. Firstly the dangerous, flirtatious character who isn’t trusted by the rest of the ranch workers but then later one we realize how she is just a victim of loneliness with her being the only girl on the ranch and how she too has an incomplete American Dream to pursue an acting career. Curleys wife is a very important character and is heavily involved in the outcome of the story when George ends up shooting Lennie however there is the question of her innocence.
Before we meet Curleys wife, Steinbeck deliberately gives us a first impression of her to let us know their honest views on her with Candy and Georges conversation. Candy starts by saying “Wait’ll you see Curleys wife.”, this makes us anticipated of her and gives us an expectation of what is going to be said about her. During the conversation the only positive thing said was that she was “purty”. She is portrayed as being flirty and not satisfied with her husband when Candy claims “Married two weeks and got the eye? Maybe that’s why Curleys pants is full of ants.” This makes the reader think because if they were newlywed they should be on their honeymoon period however one is overly flirtatious and the metaphor “pants is full of ants” shows the others paranoid over her, this gives us the sense something’s not right with their relationship. Steinbeck exaggerates the use of the phrase “the eye” to mirror the fact she
In this essay I am going to be assessing the character Curleys Wife from Steinbeck’s book Of Mice And Men. The book is set in the 1930s during the Great Depression it features two farm workers called George and Lennie. The travel around together in search of work sharing a dream of a place of their own, a small ranch where they can live and work for themselves. It tells the story of how violence may erupt to destroy those dreams. Curleys wife is a character in the book who from the brief encounters with her is presented in two ways. Firstly the dangerous, flirtatious character who isn’t trusted by the rest of the ranch workers but then later one we realize how she is just a victim of loneliness with her being the only girl on the ranch and how she too has an incomplete American Dream to pursue an acting career. Curleys wife is a very important character and is heavily involved in the outcome of the story when George ends up shooting Lennie however there is the question of her innocence.
Before we meet Curleys wife, Steinbeck deliberately gives us a first impression of her to let us know their honest views on her with Candy and Georges conversation. Candy starts by saying “Wait’ll you see Curleys wife.”, this makes us anticipated of her and gives us an expectation of what is going to be said about her. During the conversation the only positive thing said was that she was “purty”. She is portrayed as being flirty and not satisfied with her husband when Candy claims “Married two weeks and got the eye? Maybe that’s why Curleys pants is full of ants.” This makes the reader think because if they were newlywed they should be on their honeymoon period however one is overly flirtatious and the metaphor “pants is full of ants” shows the others paranoid over her, this gives us the sense something’s not right with their relationship. Steinbeck exaggerates the use of the phrase “the eye” to mirror the fact she