Curley's Wife sympathy
Of Mice and Men - Notes
Steinbeck never names Curley’s wife. She is defined by her relationship to Curley, as his property, not as an individual.
Namelessness also has the effect of reinforcing how insignificant she is in the life of the ranch, how dependant she is on Curley, for her identity and how little she is respected by all.
In the book, Curley's wife is shown to be a very mean, unfavourable, self-willed, troublesome, young and lonely girl with no one to comfort her, so she uses her sexuality to seek attention "She put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward".
In the novel, before we meet Curley's wife, right at the very beginning when Candy first meets George and Lennie, Canady criticises her for giving men other than her husband the eye , ”well-she got the eye. He also accuses her of being a tart, “well, I think Curley’s married…a tart”, and his comments make the reader start out with a bad impression of her. Steinbeck reinforces this image when he describes her. She has full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up.
Her finger nails were red her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages.
Steinbeck did this to show to us that Curley's wife is an unsympathetic person and so we can judge what kind of person she is right from the beginning. Steinbeck uses methods of introduction to show the reader the hardships of women in the 1930s. Steinbeck never introduces Curley’s Wife throughout the novella. I feel Steinbeck does this to show that although to the reader she is an important character, she is insignificant in the 1930s society. However Curley’s wife upon meeting George and Lennie never introduces herself. This shows that the character herself feels insignificant in society. She feels that she is unwanted and no one cares for her so no one would need to know her name. Curley's Wife is also only introduced to other people as
Steinbeck never names Curley’s wife. She is defined by her relationship to Curley, as his property, not as an individual.
Namelessness also has the effect of reinforcing how insignificant she is in the life of the ranch, how dependant she is on Curley, for her identity and how little she is respected by all.
In the book, Curley's wife is shown to be a very mean, unfavourable, self-willed, troublesome, young and lonely girl with no one to comfort her, so she uses her sexuality to seek attention "She put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward".
In the novel, before we meet Curley's wife, right at the very beginning when Candy first meets George and Lennie, Canady criticises her for giving men other than her husband the eye , ”well-she got the eye. He also accuses her of being a tart, “well, I think Curley’s married…a tart”, and his comments make the reader start out with a bad impression of her. Steinbeck reinforces this image when he describes her. She has full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up.
Her finger nails were red her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages.
Steinbeck did this to show to us that Curley's wife is an unsympathetic person and so we can judge what kind of person she is right from the beginning. Steinbeck uses methods of introduction to show the reader the hardships of women in the 1930s. Steinbeck never introduces Curley’s Wife throughout the novella. I feel Steinbeck does this to show that although to the reader she is an important character, she is insignificant in the 1930s society. However Curley’s wife upon meeting George and Lennie never introduces herself. This shows that the character herself feels insignificant in society. She feels that she is unwanted and no one cares for her so no one would need to know her name. Curley's Wife is also only introduced to other people as