Of Mice and Men: John Steinbeck Essay

Task Say what happens on each of the three times we Curleys married cleaning lady and what we learn about her.Curleys married wo reality exclusively appears three times throughout Of Mice and Men, so far though she is a polar character in the story. The three times she appears argon all splendid parts in the book, but are key snaps. They give us clues about her appearance, character and an cortical potential into her life in front she married Curley. The final time we see her is the vital horizon where the plot comes to tieher.The prototypic time we see Curleys married woman is chapter 2, where she visits the bunk family unit. Curleys married woman enters the bunkhouse where Lennie and George are unpacking and George is telling Lennie where to go if he gets into trouble. Curleys married woman comes in tone for her preserve she stands in the doorway provocatively trying to get assistance from Lennie and George. George ignores Curleys wife, k straightawaying what she is tr ying to do, but Lennie is instantly besotted with her. After Curleys wife doesnt get very far with Lennie and George she turns her attention to Slim and leaves the bunkhouse.This is however a short barb in the book, but we still learn a lot about Curleys wife. The fact that she is only ever so referred to as Curleys wife suggests that she is only ever seen as the possession of Curleys and has no individuality of her own. We learn that she has full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her hair was hung in little rolled clusters, standardised sausages. The part about her hair could be taken as an insult about her appearance and that she has failed in making herself attractive. She is descried as wearing mown(prenominal)ly red rouged lips, fingernails were red, red mules with little bouquets of red ostrich feathers which could be interpreted as a tint of danger or a sexual colour which she uses to form attention from the ranch hands. Curleys wife strives for atten tion by always wearing a lot of make-up and bright clothing she gets the attention she craves so much.Because Curleys wife is the only woman on the ranch she has no some other women to walk to or be friends with and is therefore seen as a sexual object by the ranch hands. She uses this sexual image the ranch hands acquire of her to gain attention. Her body language suggests that she flirts provocatively her body was thrown forward, showin her legs. Her voice was said to have a brittle quality, which could imply that she is as so brittle herself, easily broken or venerable. Because Curleys wife cannot get by from the sexual image that the other men have of her she uses it as a means of getting the attention she lacks. It is shown this scene that she doesnt have a good relationship with Curley, because withal though she says she is looking for Curley, when she is told where he is she looks apprehensive and rushes back to the bunkhouse as if she would be in trouble if she were not there.Also in this scene shows us that she is alone(p) and wants someone to call down to because when George answers her brusquely she still stays there and tries to talk to them. After she has gone George speaks of her despairingly bitch, piece of jail bait meaning that she has failed to run him. This scene is like a prediction of what will happen later on in the story, before Curley wife comes into the bunkhouse George is telling Lennie where to go if he gets into trouble, then Curleys wife walks in. This could be an indication that she is or has something to do with what gets Lennie into trouble. Over all in this scene we find out that Curleys wife is lonely, pretty, flirty, frightened of her economize and is seen as a possession of Curleys.The second time we see Curleys wife is in chapter 4. This scene is where we see Curleys wife visit Crooks room, gathered there are all the misfits on the ranch. They have been left behind while everyone else has on into town for the night . These people are left behind because they are misfits i.e. are not a young healthy white male. Crooks is black and is crippled, Candy is old and crippled, Lennie has sockledge disabilities (seen as being thick) and Curleys wife is a woman. Candy, Lennie and Crooks are discussing the plans for the farm they are going to own, when Curleys wife comes in looking for Curley.Candy and crooks want Curleys wife to leave so the wear upont get into trouble, but she persists in trying to talk to them. She asks them if they know what happened to Curleys hand until now though she all ready has worked out what has happened. When Crooks tells her to leave or hell tell the boss not to let her in the atomic number 5 any more she becomes angry and tells him not to open his mouth, she threatens that if he pane of glass she will get him strung up on a tree. Curleys wife only leaves when she thinks the other ranch hands including, Curley have come back from town.Again in this scene we are shown that Curleys wife is a very lonely person and only wants someone to talk to well, I aint givin you no trouble. Think I dont like to talk to somebody everonce in a while? Think I like to stick in that house alla time. She is also over again shown to use her appearance to get attention, Her face was heavily made up. Her lips were slightly parted. She breathed strongly, as though she had been running. Curleys wife shows discontent in the life that she has now and a great dislike for her husband Curley, Sure I gotta husban. You all seen him. Swell guy aint he?, Im glad you bust up Curley a little bit. He got it comin to him. Sometimes Id like to bust him myself. She has this dislike for Curley because of his failure to satisfy her emotionally. Even though this scene is a gathering of the ranch misfits Curleys wife has a slight advantage everywhere the others.This is because she has a banner social standing as a young white female, she uses this to threaten dominate the other misfits . This happens on several occasions i.e. when she talks down to them You bindle bums and also when Crooks orders her out of his room. By doing this he aggravates him and she attacks him verbally You know what I could do? Well, you keep your place then Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it aint even funny. Crooks was an easy show for Curleys wife to pick on because he is black. People were prejudiced against ethnic minorities in those age and this made it easy for her to frighten Crooks. In my opinion I think that she took pleasure out of his paroxysm and this particular scene shows a nasty side of her personality.The last time we see Curleys wife is in the barn with Lennie, chapter 5. In this scene all of the men on the ranch except Lennie are outside taking part or are watching a horseshoe tournament. Lennie is in the barn playing with has pup, but accidentally kills it by stroking it too hard. Curleys wife enters the barn because she is lonely and wants someone to talk too. She tries to flirt and impress Lennie by telling him about her life before she met Curley. She only really gets Lennies full attention when he tells her he likes to solidus nice things. When he tells her she invites Lennie to stroke her soft hair, but when Lennies stroking becomes harder, she panics in a effort to stop her panicking and screaming Lennie puts his hand over her mouth, this in turn makes her panic even more. In the end Lennie like with the pup breaks her neck. He half-buries her in the hay and runs off. Candy later finds her body.Even though this is the last time we see Curleys wife we still learn a lot about her and things we already know are reinforced. The fact that Curleys wife is lonely is reinforced again in this scene I get lonely this again makes her crave attention from other people. She attempts to gain Lennies attention in many ways in this scene, one of the ways she tries is by flirting here feel right her. Another way is by playing on her ow n loneliness for sympathy even she shows none for Lennie when he shows her his dead pup. She tries to impress Lennie by telling him about her life before she met Curley She looked closely at Lennie to see whether she was impressing him. Curleys wife shows herself to be impatient and selfish by not letting Lennie tell his story before hers she went on with her story quickly, before she could be interrupted.Again in this scene like the one before she shows a great dislike for Curley. This is because she married Curley only because she was let down by a man who said he could put her in movies, she married Curley so she could get away from home, but this sour out to be a hasty and bad decision for her. Because Curley doesnt give his wife the attention she needs and tries to keep her from the other men on the ranch, she begins to hate Curley and seeks the attention from the other men on the ranch.Curleys wife is also naive and lacks any common sense this is because she believed that the man at the riverbank dance could put her in movies, when it is most probable that he just said it to sleep with her He says he was gonna put me in the movies. Soons he got back to Hollywood he was gonna keep open to me about it I neer got that letter. Also the fact that she let Lennie to stroke her hair after he told her that he killed his pup by stroking it shows that she lacks any common sense. Many of the characters show disdain for Curleys wife they feel that she is a troublemaker. Candy calls her a tart and even when she is dead he says to her you god-damn trampEver body knowed youd mess things up. You wasnt no good. You aint no good now, you lousy tart. In my opinion I think that she deserves pity rather than contempt, because her husband is insensitive, possessive and aggressive.From the three times we see Curleys wife we can say that she is a pivotal character in the story. Because of her hasty marriage to the possessive Curley she has become lonely in her isolation. To try to escape from the loneliness she uses the sexual image the ranch hands have of her to gain attention from other people, even those at the bottom of the social hierarchy. The fact that she is known only as Curleys wife and is never called by her real name by ether the ranch hands or the author shows that she is seen only as a possession and is not treated as an individual.