Summary Of Mice and Men essays for IGCSE English Literature Pearson Edexcel
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Course
English Literature IGCSE
Institution
GCSE
Book
Of Mice and Men
My documents includes essays for Of Mice and Men which is out of 40.
They include:
-explore the role of Curley's wife
-explore the theme of the American dreams?
-discuss the presentation of disability?
-explore the role of Lennie?
-discuss the presentation of prejudice?
-discuss the presenta...
GCSE Of Mice and Men - Curley’s Wife Analysis & Summary
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Explore the role of Curley’s Wife
Of Mice and Men is set in the 1930’s in California. It is set in a small area
with few buildings on the ranch. Chapters 2 and 3 are both set in the bunk
house where most of the men on the ranch sleep. Steinbeck does this to
emphasize on how the men can’t change their fate. On the farm, George
and Lennie are introduced to other characters who all emphasize on the
loneliness and difficulties of living on the farm. We see how the ranch is
presents as a microcosm as it’s a small section of society with diverse
range of people.
The title of the book is adapted from Robert Burn’s poem – “To a Mouse-
The best laide schemes o’ mice and men Gang aft agley” – giving the
impression that the characters plan in the novella will go wrong and lead
to unhappiness. This is shown through Curley’s wife where her characters
are shown as someone who will inevitably run into trouble with Lennie and
how men treated women in this time in history through the way the men
on the ranch down classed Curley’s wife. During this time in history,
before the Great Depression, women rights were gained where they were
finally gaining part-control over America, and they started to have an
impact on women’s rights. However due to the Great Depression women
rights were taken away once again where the men overpowered the
women in work and rights.
The character Curley’s wife is used to represent the loneliness suffered by
women during the Great Depression. This is shown through Curley’s wife
stating “I could made somethin’ of myself” showing how she has hope for
a better future. When Curley’s wife was younger, she couldn’t control her
destiny and become a movie star because “my ol’ lady wouldn’t let me,”
but we see how marriage has trapped her from the outside world and
stopped her fulfilling her dream. We see from this how she can’t change
her destiny; where her dream is different to George and Lennie’s because
hers is much grander, yet the dreams are similar in that the characters
rely on their dreams as a way of coping with the difficulties in their lives.
During this time the American dream created the possibility for freedom,
prosperity, and success. During the Great Depression the American Dream
was a dream to change their lives for the better. Dreams are a way the
characters battle their loneliness and hopelessness of their existence.
Steinbeck doesn’t give “Curley’s wife” a name showing how she is treated
more like a possession of Curley rather than a person. This is used to
show how she wants recognition, attention, her own identity, and her own
,life. To emphasize this, she has none of these, including no name. No title
suggest that she belongs to someone else; her husband, emphasizing the
fact that their destinies are controlled by others. During this time in
history there was a spiral of decline occurring with women’s rights due to
the Great Depression, where employees preferred giving jobs to men ad it
was up to the women to the women to look after the house.
Steinbeck presents Curley’s wife as a flirtatious woman with George
seeing her as a bad influence and a dangerous person; describing her as
“jailbait.” This portrays Curley’s wife as a product of society of this time
that is male led and feels the pressure life brings. The men on the ranch
also perceive Curley’s wife as a “tart” as the way she acts towards men
on the ranch. Steinbeck does this to show the way in which women are
treated and looked at during this era, suggesting they are outcasted from
society. Curley’s wife is a victim of attitudes to women in 1930’s America
where she is humiliated by Curley when he always chooses the men over
his wife.
The character Curley’s wife is presented as being lonely through “Think I
don’t like to talk to somebody ever’ once in a while.” This tells us that the
ranch is no place for a woman, linking to women’s rights in 1930’s
America as she’s stuck inside 24/7. We see how she has no one to talk to
where we empathies with her where we see her looking for
companionship and attention from other men on the ranch. Steinbeck
presents her as a woman who does what she does to find humor in her
life, to find a way to forget about her lost dream; yet the manner she does
this in is not right. This is an important element of the novella especially
through Curley’s wife being isolated by herself on the ranch because it
shows how women were left to their own devices and how men looked
upon them. Steinbeck does this to emphasize women’s rights of this time
in history and how different people treated them. This era in time
suggests how married women were looked upon their husbands and how
their husbands neglected their needs and views.
Curley’s wife as a sole person isn’t presented with having a lot of power
but is presented with lots of power over Crooks by striking fear into him
when he mentions how she could have him lynched at ease. She abuses
her power on the farm with her threat that she “could get you strung up
on a tree so easily it ain’t even funny.” This portrays how women
overpowered black men where they were more down classed. It is the
only situation where Curley’s wife feels power and has any status due to
her sexuality showing women has opportunities to down-class others.
Steinbeck does this to try and illustrate the ways women were isolated
and lonely and how they were looked upon by white men, whereas black
men were pushed aside. In this incident Steinbeck shows how the
2
, dispossessed can strike back to exert power. This links to the predatory
nature of human existence where Curley’s wife has a profound sense of
loneliness and isolation with each desiring comfort, yet her weaknesses
seek to destroy those who are weaker. The novella suggests the most
visible kind of strength used to oppress others.
Having considered these points we see how Steinbeck presents Curley’s
wife as a lonely and isolated female character. Steinbeck is doing this to
deliver a message on the state of women’s rights where he makes it
obvious how Curley’s wife has no name and instead represented as a
possession of Curley’s. Curley’s wife is made to feel lonely, isolated and a
female in need of companionship, where her bad relationship with her
husband causes her to seek attention from others to escape the loneliness
of her life on the ranch. This leads to her death where even in death she is
still left alone and abandoned.
Explore the theme of the American dreams?
Of Mice and Men is set in the 1930’s in California. It is set in a small area
with few buildings on the ranch. Chapters 2 and 3 are both set in the bunk
house where most of the men on the ranch sleep. Steinbeck dies this to
emphasize how the men can’t change their fate. On the farm, George and
Lennie are introduced to the other characters who all emphasize on the
loneliness and difficulties of living on the farm. We see how the ranch is
presented as a microcosm as it is a small section of society with diverse
range of people.
3
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