Of Mice and Men: Explore Your Response to Curley’s Wife Essay

My initial response to the example of Curleys married woman was that of intense dislike- I found Steinbeck to subtly disadvantage us, as readers, against her, before she even made a physical style in the text. Upon reflection, I perceive Curleys married woman in few ways to be the most important figure in the refreshing- she is a key symbol of temptation, and most of the storys main underlying themes dreams, isolation and loneliness, for example, provoke be related to her in many way.To an extent, she asshole be blamed for the terrible stunnedcome of events, although technically, she is no more culpible than whatsoever of the otherwise calibers for what happens. The first thing that struck me around Curleys wife was that we never find out her real name. Without exception, she is incessantly referred to in account relation to Curley. I find this to be very important for a number of reasons. Firstly, it suggests Curleys possessive nature, and portrays his wife as a untarnished belonging of his, rather than a partingner or an equal.Secondly, and particularly more prominently, is the way in which her being nameless immediately establishes Curleys wife as a symbol rather than a character. The other men markedly view her as a symbol of temptation- Waitll you fall upon Curleys wife. She is very obviously different to all the other sight in the story Curleys wife is the only fe manful character in the novel, and is additionally a stereotype of women a distraction and a provocation, depict very early on as having the eye for other men despite being married, and looked at as a acetous and a looloo, in the crude voice communication of the spread head workers.I flavor, later on reading the novel, that Steinbeck presents Curleys wife in a mainly oppose light, at least initially. Before she even appears in person, the men controvert her, and our opinion of her is already firmly influenced by what they say. She is referred to as jail bait, and physically described as moving and behaving in a provocative, even s basist(p) manner- having full, rouged lips, heavily made up. Certain elements of her appearance are described as red in colour, such as her painted fingernails and the feathers prone to her dress.This colour is classically a sign of danger or warning, and I believe that Steinbeck uses this minor detail to make us more sensible of her nature, and to subtly foreshadow, the chain of events that are, in part, precipitated by her actions and conduct. Despite his overall exhibit of Curleys wife as unpleasant, and a bitch, as George warns Lennie, I also think that he shows her to be something of a victim- her manner the result of down coreed dreams, an unhappy marriage, and isolation in a small world border by men- also, on a physical level, the unlucky victim of Lennies strength.We are not aware of this other, more vulnerable, spatial relation to her, until the last pages manoeuvreing(p) up to her ending, wh en we can see her desperation as she pours out her heart to as good as a complete stranger- and then her words tumbled out in a passion of communication. She quickly admits here that her keep up aint a nice fella and that she married him later her dreams of movie stardom failed to come to anything. One particularly crucial quote, that shows us her isolation, is when she tells Lennie, I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely. As a whole, the events that take place over the course of the novel can be looked at as the outcome of fate taking its course, with no one character carrying all the blame. Although Lennies mental equipment casualty made a tragedy such as the death of Curleys wife almost inevitable in the end, I perceive her to be at least partly culpible for the eventual path happenings took.Eager for male attention, she flaunts herself at every opportunity, and, discovering Lennies obsessive liking for soft things, she flirts with him, inviting him to crack her ha ir- smell right aroun there an see how soft it is. Lennies taxation unawareness of his own strength, and the obtuse fear that the piercing screams of Curleys wife instil in him of displeasing George, make him hold on to her hair, and lead to her sudden and violent death- Please dont do that Georgell be mad This major event sets in motion the chain of occurrences that keep out the novel with Lennies death. At this point, Curleys wife also becomes a symbol of the death theme omnipresent during the book, and the impossibility of dreams.Her own hopes had been gloomy by Lennies actions, and in turn, her death marked the most sudden demise of hope for George, Lennie, and even Candy, whose plan of a Dream put forward is cruelly jeopardised by the turn events take- You an me can get that little place, cant we George? This desperate interjection on Candys part at first meets with no reply from George, who realises how unattainable dreams really are, and admits to always being aware th at the Dream Farm was nothing more than a fantasy- I think I knowed wed never do her The death of Curleys wife ultimately brings George to the decision that the only way to extradite Lennie is to take his life. In this way, even after her death, I see Curleys wife as a very prominent symbol in her own right. Overall, I dislike Curleys wife as a character. Her personal insecurities lead her to exploit her localize of power over the ranch workers, whom she often treats with contempt, looking upon them as inferior to her and speaking abusively towards some of them.The best example of this behaviour on her part is in constituent 3, when she enters the harness room, interrupting the conversation that some of the men are having. Her character is be quiet maintained as being tempting, and extremely flirtatious, her stance described as being provocative, with her hands on her hips and her rubbing the nails of one hand with the feel and forefinger of the other, but it is here that we se e more of the aggressive, nasty side to her. She is very over-confident, even in a room full of fully grown men, boldly proclaiming that what they are telling her is baloney.I think the way Curleys wife spontaneously refers to the three men in the room as a nigger an a dum-dum and a lousy ol sheep, is very noisome and cruel of her, and typifies the bitter, hardened side of her personality, aside from the glossy exterior of beauty and glamour. One of the most revealing aspects of her behaviour in this scene is when she abuses her position as the bosss daughter-in-law to threaten Crooks, implying that she would stoop to wrongly accusative him of rape or another form of assault, if he reports her behaviour- You know what I can do to you if you open your trap? At this moment, Steinbecks enactment of Curleys wife leads me to despise her greatly.However, I do grow to feel some empathy for her by the time of her death, appreciating her as a victim- poor dirt and seeing the emotional struggles she has faced, in a loveless marriage to a man she often feels compelled to bust up i. e. attack and injure, and the dreams of Hollywood stardom that take a crap been denied her.In conclusion, my response to Curleys wife at the end of the novel was mixed. Although I mainly found her to be an unpleasant character, more of an loath(p) role than anything, and even mildly vindictive at times in her manner towards some of the men, I understand how her temperament was fuelled by her past. By the time of her death, when a greater part of her personal backstory is revealed and explained, I feel more empathetic towards her.One of the most prominent and important things about Curleys wife is that we never find out her name, marking her out clearly as a symbol rather than a steady individual- she symbolises temptation more than anything, and despite not being entirely to blame for Lennies death and the downfall of the Dream Farm plan, her flirtatious, provocative behaviour and ac tions- really, a desperate cry for attention- set all the terrible events at the end of Of Mice and Men in motion.