Curley's Wife in Of Mice and Men Essay Example

In this novella, Curley’s wife is not her own person, we can see through Steinbeck actions by not giving her a name throughout the whole story. She is a person who is mistreated just because of her gender, as she is the only woman on the ranch. Curley’s wife is a person who starves for an emotional connection with somebody, [-if you knew her, if you could ever break down a thousand little defenses she has built up, you would find a nice person, an honest person, and you would end up by loving her.] This quote is from a letter the author wrote explaining why she acts the way she does, and we can see that the way her husband has treated her, and her childhood, has made it impossible to know her true self.  In "Of Mice And Men",  Steinbeck uses Curley’s wife as a way to show the relation between the role of women with isolation.

Curley’s actions prescribe his wife the role of isolation in this novel.  Therefore, she is not her own person because she cannot act freely. [“But I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. (Steinbeck, 87).] Curley knows she slept with almost every man in the story, she slept with them because her husband did not know how to sexually satisfy her. In the novel, we can see how Curley has a glove with vaseline to keep his left hand soft to be able to satisfy his wife and her not leaving him for another man. That's why he enforces those rules on her because he knew what she was up to. 

To further develop the notion of objectifying women. Steinbeck does not give Curley’s wife a proper name. Apparently, she does not merit it removing from her any traits of a personality or her as an individual. Since she does not receive a name at the same time, it’s like she does not have a personality, which means that she is not treated like a human throughout the novel. On several occasions, she discusses with Lennie her emotions and how she wants to have a better life elsewhere. She explains how she just wants to live a different lifestyle, foreshadowing her inability to attain her dream. All she wants is to be able to express herself to someone and be able to talk to someone who is not afraid of talking back to her. A place where she is not the only woman, where she does not feel alone.   “I ain't used to livin' like this. I coulda made somethin' of myself." (Steinbeck, 88). She does not  receive the freedom a person has as their rights. Curley’s wife is not allowed to live freely, since her husband holds her down to have a normal life on the ranch. 

As a result of her loneliness, Curley’s wife's character becomes Rebellious. Despite living in proximity to all the characters in the ranch, Curley’s wife seems to be lonely. That loneliness is caused by imposed barriers because Curley is isolating her from other people to the point that she cannot even talk to others in the ranch, “I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely” (Steinbeck, 86). Her rebellion is derived from loneliness and the feeling of lack of power that she experiences connected by the emotions, she resorts to flirtatious behavior in several instances with almost every man in the ranch. She has been conditioned by society to utilize her body as a mechanism for survival, it’s likely the only way she had ever been taught to perceive herself: An object. She breaks the rules her husband enforces on her, which is that she is supposed to talk to nobody. This rebellious way of acting makes her be cruel to other characters. She is a villain, but she’s also the one who needs rescue. 

Steinbeck uses Curley’s wife as a way to exhibit the relation between women and alienation. When a woman's husband does not pay enough attention to their wives, they tend to get lonely because someone's husband is their special someone, a person who you want to tell everything and share about your day. Women tend to do certain things just to get their husband’s attention. Also, a husband need to satisfy his women sexually so that she does not find another way to do it herself.