How Does Steinbeck Present Curley's Wife In Of Mice And Men
Explore the ways Steinbeck presents the character of Curley’s wife in Of Mice and Men
The novel Of Mice and Men was written in the 1930’s by a man named John Steinbeck.
The book is set in America and at a time during the Great Depression. This was when the stock market had crashed some years prior, lots of companies went bankrupt, the banking systems failed and a massive soar in unemployment was witnessed. Also during this period of the Great Depression droughts were seen in the southern and western states of America with failed harvests in Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas. The fertile grassland that once was, became desert like and the area became known as the “dust bowl”.
During this time the women fitted into this society as the …show more content…
Steinbeck uses the term “jail bait” when she is being spoken about by the farm workers. The term jail bait is a metaphor as you cannot literally be a piece of bait that will end another up in jail. A woman who is described as jail bait is somebody who attempts to look older than they actually are, and are possibly attempting to attract a suitor to take the bait, if this event comes to fruition the suitor could find himself serving a lengthy prison sentence. Further on in chapter three, Steinbeck writes about Curley’s wife as having “the eye” all the time, Steinbeck again is using a metaphor to descried Curley’s wife actions towards the farm workers. You cannot actually have the eye, what Steinbeck is doing is attempting to show the reader that she is always looking for attention and has to act in a provocative manner to obtain this. The reader may begin to feel strong dislike towards Curley’s wife now, as this is not the way any married woman should act. However it also begins to show the reader what a lonely existence it was for women during this era and possibly all that Curley’s wife actually craved was social interaction which is a basic need for any human being. Steinbeck again could possibly be foreshadowing future events to
The novel Of Mice and Men was written in the 1930’s by a man named John Steinbeck.
The book is set in America and at a time during the Great Depression. This was when the stock market had crashed some years prior, lots of companies went bankrupt, the banking systems failed and a massive soar in unemployment was witnessed. Also during this period of the Great Depression droughts were seen in the southern and western states of America with failed harvests in Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas. The fertile grassland that once was, became desert like and the area became known as the “dust bowl”.
During this time the women fitted into this society as the …show more content…
Steinbeck uses the term “jail bait” when she is being spoken about by the farm workers. The term jail bait is a metaphor as you cannot literally be a piece of bait that will end another up in jail. A woman who is described as jail bait is somebody who attempts to look older than they actually are, and are possibly attempting to attract a suitor to take the bait, if this event comes to fruition the suitor could find himself serving a lengthy prison sentence. Further on in chapter three, Steinbeck writes about Curley’s wife as having “the eye” all the time, Steinbeck again is using a metaphor to descried Curley’s wife actions towards the farm workers. You cannot actually have the eye, what Steinbeck is doing is attempting to show the reader that she is always looking for attention and has to act in a provocative manner to obtain this. The reader may begin to feel strong dislike towards Curley’s wife now, as this is not the way any married woman should act. However it also begins to show the reader what a lonely existence it was for women during this era and possibly all that Curley’s wife actually craved was social interaction which is a basic need for any human being. Steinbeck again could possibly be foreshadowing future events to