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Sunday, January 23, 2011

Of Mice and Men- Chapter Five prompt

Does Curly's wife get what she deserves?


In the novella Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck illustrates through the characterization of Curly’s wife that although some people may seem mean and evil, they may have lived through a hard, unfair life that they do not deserve.  Curly’s wife is depicted as a mean tramp by the men on the ranch.  “Jesus, what a tramp.”  “Don’t you even take a look at that bitch.  I don’t care what she says and what she does.  I seen ‘em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her.  Leave her be.”  No one trusts her, not even Curly.  Curly hates it when she talks to other men because he thinks something is going on.  Slim says to Curly after he questioned him about it, “Well, you been askin’ me too often.  I’m getting’ God damn sick of it.  If you can’t look after your own God damn wife, what you expect me to do about it?  You lay offa me.”  This shows that their relationship isn’t a healthy or strong one because they don’t even trust each other.  Curly’s wife just wants some attention.  She cannot go out or can’t talk to a lot of people because in the 1930’s women were to stay home and take care of the family and house.  She was not happy about this because she had so many chances to be somebody and do something that she wanted.  “’Nother time I met a guy an’ he was in pitchers.  Went out to Riverside Dance Palace with him.  He says he was gonna put me in the movies.  Says I was a natural.  Soon’s he got back to Hollywood he was gonna write to me about it… I never got that letter.”  She wanted to do something with her life and not end up where she is now but nobody believed in her.  Now, she is a wife who gets very lonely on the ranch and just wants someone to talk to.  “Sat’day night.  Ever’body out doing som’pin’.  Ever’body!  An’ what am I doin’?  Standin’ here talkin’ to a bunch of bindle stiffs—a nigger an’ a dum-dum and a lousy ol’ sheep—an’ likin’ it because they ain’t nobody else.”  Another time she is talking to Lennie and says, “Why can’t I talk to you?  I never talk to nobody.  I get awful lonely.”  She isn’t trying to hurt anyone; she just wants company and someone to talk to.  She lived a lonely and sad life because she was trapped.  Everyone else had rights to talk to people and go out and have a job; she wasn’t allowed to.  She didn’t deserve to die; no one does.  She was a victim of her own confinement and was just trying to find a way to make herself happy. 

-Katie :) 

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