Curley's wife in "Of Mice and Men" is cleverly used by Steinbeck to create sympathy among the reader but also to represent the position of women in the America of the 1930s. Through a cleverly designed pattern of events in the book, we feel varying levels of sympathy for Curley's wife and thus unconsciously gain insight into the problems women faced in the 1930s. In this essay I will evaluate the extent to which Steinbeck presents Curley's wife as a sympathetic character and her relationship to 1930s America. We are first introduced to Curley's wife through Candy's description of her, and right away, which in itself demonstrates her lack of individuality because she cannot speak for herself or even present herself just like the majority of women in the 1930s. Furthermore, the fact that Curley's wife does not have her name and is simply Curley's property exemplifies the concept that women in the 1930s were treated as property of men and were stripped of their individuality, highlighting the hierarchy society of those times. The first description of Curley's wife states that she gives "the eye" to multiple ranch workers despite being "married two weeks." From this we can immediately deduce that she is a bit of a "whore", however if we evaluate further this could explain that she is lonely and not happy with her new husband. The fact that she gives "eye" to the other workers on the ranch despite being married does not make us feel any sympathy for her and immediately paints her as resourceful and potentially dangerous, although, on the other hand, we can understand Curley's restriction of her that makes us feel sympathy. In this passage we can get a glimpse of America in the 1930s because George declares that "there are a lot" of men who have......half of the paper...received that letter" which illustrates his broken dreams therefore destined her to the stereotypical woman. As a result, we feel sympathy, not only for Curley's wife but for all the women and even men who in the 1930s had dreams and aspirations that would never be realized (e.g. the dream of George and Lennie). In conclusion, I believe that Curley's wife is a very significant character in the novel because she represents the stereotypical woman and the way she behaved and was treated leads me to feel great sympathy for her despite the her flirtatious behavior. Steinbeck succeeds very well in creating sympathy during her change of character and presents her in this way to show that most women have gone through similar situations leads us to sympathize with all the people that society deems. inferior" and we can apply this lesson to today's society too.
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