John Steinbeck Once Said of Curley’s Wife, ‘She’s a Nice Girl, Not a Floozy’. How Does Steinbeck Present Curley’s Wife in ‘of Mice and Men’?
John Steinbeck once said of Curley’s wife, ‘She’s a nice girl, not a floozy’. How does Steinbeck present Curley’s wife in ‘Of Mice and Men’?
In this essay I will show how Steinbeck presents Curley’s wife in a number of ways throughout the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’, showing both how she is portrayed as a ‘nice girl’ as well as a ‘floozy’. This novel was set during the great depression and is written around two key themes of the American dream, which every ‘ranch hand’ owned their own patch of land, and loneliness, the only common feeling that each individual in the novel feared. Loneliness was the main theme that caused Curley’s wife to be interpreted in a negative way by the other ranch men. The very first time we meet Curley’s wife is by the narrative description, in the doorway of the bunkhouse where her image is hidden behind a darkened silhouette standing in the doorway – ‘… a rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off’. This is a suggestion that she’ll be trouble as she brings a sudden darkness into the bunkhouse. The metaphor creates an image of the sunlight being extinguished by her and casting a dark shadow over the men in the bunkhouse. It is also a demonstration of ‘femme fatale’ as she appears so be a symbol of danger with Steinbeck presenting her introduction dramatically, as a seductress who will only bring misfortune. Another aspect of Curley’s wife we discover in her this same section is the fact that she wears a lot of red – ‘full, rouged lips… wore a cotton house dress and red mules…’. Red is a seductive colour which is often associated with danger or threat – Steinbeck successfully portrays this and instantly colours the readers view on Curley’s wife. Curley’s wife’s body language suggests a lot about her character in this passage – ‘…leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward’. She seeks attention; this is made clear as later in the novel we discover that she’s experiencing a loveless relationship with her
In this essay I will show how Steinbeck presents Curley’s wife in a number of ways throughout the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’, showing both how she is portrayed as a ‘nice girl’ as well as a ‘floozy’. This novel was set during the great depression and is written around two key themes of the American dream, which every ‘ranch hand’ owned their own patch of land, and loneliness, the only common feeling that each individual in the novel feared. Loneliness was the main theme that caused Curley’s wife to be interpreted in a negative way by the other ranch men. The very first time we meet Curley’s wife is by the narrative description, in the doorway of the bunkhouse where her image is hidden behind a darkened silhouette standing in the doorway – ‘… a rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off’. This is a suggestion that she’ll be trouble as she brings a sudden darkness into the bunkhouse. The metaphor creates an image of the sunlight being extinguished by her and casting a dark shadow over the men in the bunkhouse. It is also a demonstration of ‘femme fatale’ as she appears so be a symbol of danger with Steinbeck presenting her introduction dramatically, as a seductress who will only bring misfortune. Another aspect of Curley’s wife we discover in her this same section is the fact that she wears a lot of red – ‘full, rouged lips… wore a cotton house dress and red mules…’. Red is a seductive colour which is often associated with danger or threat – Steinbeck successfully portrays this and instantly colours the readers view on Curley’s wife. Curley’s wife’s body language suggests a lot about her character in this passage – ‘…leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward’. She seeks attention; this is made clear as later in the novel we discover that she’s experiencing a loveless relationship with her