Of Mice and Men Curleys wife free essay sample

?John introduced us to a character called Curleys wife, she plays a complex and misfit character as she got so many different sides to her, as sometimes the reader feels sympathetic and unsympathetic about her. John Steinbecks novel of Mice and Men is an example of how the readers perception of a character can change without the character actually changing. Steinbeck uses many different techniques to present Curleys wife such as colour imagery, appearance, metaphors and similes in the early stages of the novel. The effect of these techniques is that the reader creates a mental image of Curleys wife even before she even enters the novel. This perception is further emphasized by Curleys Wifes first appearance in the novel. Steinbeck uses light symbolically to show that she can be imposing when he writes, The rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off. Steinbeck portrays her in a horrible manner; he shows her as unintelligent and unimportant figures. Curleys wife is a prime example of how Steinbeck presents women; she is the most prominent woman in the book, so there are more citations about her. She uses the fact she is a vulnerable female against Crooks and is very racist towards him. ‘Well you keep your trap shut then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny. ’ This is a definite threat to Crooks. This shows that the social attitudes at the time were extremely racist and she chooses him because he is the most weak and least able to defend himself. She was going to accuse him of sexual assault and his black skin she knew would add to the problem. This gives her some status and power despite her because she is the only woman though her unpopular husband actually makes her an outcast on the farm. Nobody will want to converse with her because they fear her husband, and because they would automatically tar her with the same brush as they had him, which is to be extremely unreasonable and disrespectful, not to mention rude and very unfriendly. When Lennie and George arrive at the ranch, Curley’s wife claims to be looking for her husband Curley. But she clearly isn’t just there for that. ‘You’re the new fella’s that just come, ain’t ya? ’ She immediately moves from finding her husband to acquainting herself with them. When Slim arrives and tells her Curley had gone into the house, she leaves in a hurry as though she thought they knew her intentions weren’t actually to find Curley. There are, then, a number of aspects of her character which are less attractive. She flirts with the other men, she does not consider the effect she is having upon them and she is racist. She endangers their positions on the ranch through her behaviour. Throughout the novel, there are also indications she is a victim rather than a floozy. You learn that she dreamt of being in films but it was never going to become a reality. She showed she had always been used by men as none of them ever intended to put her in films: ‘an’ a guy tol’ me he could put me in pitchers. ’ Although she was very naive in believing it, it leaves her bitter in her marriage knowing that this was once on offer for her because she was trapped with no contact with the outside world of wider opportunities. She confesses to Lennie that she isn’t happy and still plans to fulfil her dreams in the future. ‘I coulda made somethin of myseIf maybe I will yet. She confesses that her marriage to Curley isn’t based on love or even lust; it was arranged when she was just in a temper with her mother and on the rebound. ‘I married Curley. Met him out to the Riverside Dance that same night. She thought she’d have more freedom, to fulfil her dreams, but it did not worked out like that. She craves some sort of affection and attention and has clearly kept her feelings hidden away for a long time before her confession to Lennie. ‘I don’t like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella. ’ She jumps at the chance to be able to express herself to somebody, somebody who would listen. She obviously is in despair as by now she has lost hope of her dream. She is lonely and never receives any of the love and affection she needs and like any young girl would want. ‘Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever once in a while? Think I like to stick in that house alla time? ’ She always just wants some company and never understands just why nobody would speak with her. She is young, and probably never meant to appear ‘a tramp or ‘a tart. She simply has nothing to do and nobody to talk to. She can put two and two together. She realises her husband has no respect for her. ‘Think I don’t know where they all went? Even Curley. I know where they all went. On the Saturday night, Curley had gone to a brothel with some of the other men who worked on the ranch. Just his absence alone gives us the impression that their marriage lacks love and intimacy. This makes you sympathise with her more, as she is young, beautiful and full of life and her husband still chooses other women over her which surely must make her feel unworthy and insecure as well as lowering her self-esteem. Another part of the novel which makes you sympathise with Curley’s wife is when she dies. ‘The meanness and the planning and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face. ’ This shows that after all the stress and things life had placed on her, she has finally relaxed and is at ease. ‘She was very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young. ’ This again reminds you of how young she was and how she had so much unhappiness in such a short time. Her beauty ruined her in a way, as that was the main cause of her disappointment with acting and also why she ended up marrying Curley. ‘Now her rouged cheeks and her reddened lips made her seem alive. ’ This shows and reminds you of the importance of makeup to her, as even at her death she looks the same. Last of all ‘the curls, tiny little sausages,’ make her seem so young, like a child which automatically again makes you feel sorry for her, and guilty in a way for thinking she was just a floozy in the beginning.