Sunday, January 23, 2011

Chapter 5 Prompt


In novella Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck illustrates how Curley's wife is a misunderstood character with her controversial reputation and personality. Curley's wife is seen as a jailbait and a tramp in the perspective of the men working on the ranch. They think that she is always out flirting with workers behind Curley's back and causing trouble. Curley does not treat his wife with respect, as many men during the 1930's did. He tells her to stay in the house and not talk to anyone. Curley's wife tells Lennie this during their conversation on page 87. “'I get lonely' she said. 'You can talk to people, but I can't talk to nobody but Curley.'” In order to battle loneliness, she does things that have given her a bad reputation. This is an overwriting theme in the book. Loneliness has caused different characters to do different things. Loneliness is the reason why George and Lennie and together, why Candy had the dog, why Crooks reads and why Curley's wife flirts with everyone. She is never with anybody and does not live a social life, so when she gets a chance, she flirts with people in order to get attention. It is revealed to the reader that Curley's wife loves being the center of attention when she talks about the opportunities she had as a young adult on page 89. “Coulda been in the movies, an' had nice clothes-all them nice clothes like they wear. An' I coulda sat in them big hotels, a' had pitcher took of me.” Curley's Wife looks back at what her life could have been, and sees herself as a famous actress. In order to get a taste of what life could have been, she tries to get attention on the ranch by talking, seducing and flirting with everyone. In this chapter the reader discovers why she has a bad reputation, and the reader realizes that it is a misunderstanding. When Candy discovers her dead body in the barn, he says that she deserved it. If Candy had taken time and looked at her rather then her reputation, he would see that she did not deserve it. After meeting Curley's wife, the reader understands that the workers' perception of her was incorrect, and that she did not deserve what she got at the end of the chapter.

4 comments:

  1. i like your thesis because it really brings the essay together. You did a good job showing that loneliness is a main theme by pointing out how everyone reacts to their own loneliness. Your quotes were well-chosen and supported your thesis. You had insightful commentary on your quotes as well.

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  2. I really like your thesis because it is what stands out to me most about Curly's wife. She is misunderstood by the men on the ranch and it is not really fair to her. I really like how your paragraph is not against her; it's more defending her and explaining why she is misunderstood and acts the way she does. Good job! :)

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  3. Your thesis statement really grabs the reader and makes him read the rest because you captured the 5 elements. Your main theme that you focused on really stood out, loneliness. Curley's wife was lonely and Curley made sure that no one else would talk to her. You were right about her flirting to get attention because other wise she would have no one to talk to. Really good job overall.

    Dominic

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  4. I agreed with a lot of your points especially the fact that Curley's wife has always wanted to be the center of attention and this is one of the only reasons that she flirts with the men. I also like how you demonstrated the theme of being lonely with other characters besides Curley's wife. Your essay was well written and enjoyable to read!

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