Of Mice and Men

Essay by bigvizz77High School, 10th gradeA, March 2013

download word file, 3 pages 0.0

Of mice and men essay

'Of mice and men' by John Steinbeck tells a tragic story set during the Great Depression about companionship and loneliness. At first no sympathy is seen towards Curley's wife because of her flirtatious ways. However, towards the end of the novel when the reader learns more about her personal story, there is more sympathy towards her. Curley's wife was a very lonely woman whose shattered dreams and the behaviour of her violent and jealous husband led to her very sad ending.

Curley's wife is the loneliest character in the novel. She is the only girl on the ranch which means that she is unable to socialise and interact with other women. Having no friends on the ranch makes her feel extremely isolated and lonely. In the beginning Curley's wife is portrayed as a 'tart' as described by the various ranch workers. This is because she is flirtatious towards other men and gives them 'the eye' even though she is a married woman.

It is soon obvious that she is flirtatious only because she is lonely and wants some attention since her husband Curley does not give her any. While talking to Lennie, she admits that, 'I get lonely. You can talk to people, but I can't talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How'd you like not to talk to anybody?' Her character makes the reader feel sympathetic towards her because all she wants is to have someone to talk to because she is so lonely all the time.

Curley's wife's dream is another reason for the reader to feel sympathy towards. Her dream was to be an actress and be in the 'pitchers'. This dream felt like it was going to become reality when a male actor told her that he was...