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How Does Steinbeck Describe Curley's Wife

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How Does Steinbeck Describe Curley's Wife
In the book, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, the author gives an unfair portrayal to the only woman in the book. This is a sign of misogyny, or hatred of women. The only woman in the book is Curley’s wife, and she is not even given a proper name. The way Steinbeck describes her, describes her death, and how he described her actions with the men on the ranch lets the reader know that Steinbeck is not very fond of women. The way that John Steinbeck describes Curley’s wife throughout the book shows that he does not really like women. He makes her a women that only cares about her looks, and just flirts with the men on the ranch, “She put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward”(Steinbeck 31). Steinbeck makes her act as if she is literally throwing herself towards the men. She is married to Curly, not so happily, yet she still flirts with almost every man working at the ranch. She walks around with a full face of makeup, lipstick and her face roughed, and she wears dresses and heels with ostrich feathers. She has no real job, so she …show more content…
He says right after she died, “She was very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young. Now her rouged cheeks and her reddened lips made her seem alive and sleeping very lightly”(Steinbeck 93). When she was alive, she looked and acted very uptight, and very self centered. She tried so hard to make herself look good, but all of the makeup was just a coverup for the real her. She looked more alive when she was dead. Her death was a release from her torment. Her death put her in a happier place,”[T]he meanness and the planning and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face”(81). After she died, she looked happier. She was no longer mean, like when the book first started. Steinbeck made her like a normal person, when she was not even alive

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