How Is Curley's Wife Presented in of Mice and Men

English controlled assessment

Explore the ways sympathy for and dislike of Curley’s wife is created by john Steinbeck in Of mice and men

John Steinbeck creates throughout the book a feeling of sympathy and dislike for Curleys wife. Curley’s wife is a complex character as in every chapter/scene she is in we see something different/new about her and this changes our judgement on her; we never really see a consistent pattern. By using conjunction Steinbeck messes with our mind as when Curleys wife says something, for example “leaned against the doorframe so that her body was thrown forward”, we get dislike for her because she’s a married woman who is showing off her body to other men but we can see why she does this because she is seeking the attention that her husband (Curley) doesn’t give. The society Curleys wife is surrounded by and the year its set in (1930) can also change our outlook on Curleys wife as those times aren’t the same as they our now.

Steinbeck right from the start, when Curleys wife is introduced, creates a feeling of sympathy for her as he objectifies her as “Curley’s wife”. We never find out her real name she’s just known as Curleys wife. By this we feel sorry for her as she is being treated as though if she is below everyone on the ranch. She is not thought of as an equal because she is the only woman on a man’s ranch. Later on in the book we can tell why she was called Curley’s wife, as when she dies Curley doesn’t feel sad he feels mad because Lennie has damaged one of his belongings. “I know who done it. That big son-of-a-bitch done it” this was Curleys first words after finding out his wife is dead. Curley doesn’t say anything about his wife, how he felt sorry for her or anything. This shows Curley didn’t really care about his wife he only viewed her as an object that belonged to him. We feel sympathy for Curleys wife because of this as the man she was supposed to spend the rest of her life with (if she didn’t die) didn’t love...