The Curse of the 1930s The 1930s were an anxious time for all people in the United States with the effects of the Great Depression looming on the bank accounts of many; there were also prevalent social inequalities for both women and African Americans at this time. In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, two characters fight an everlasting battle with the inequities that separate them from those surrounding them. Curley’s wife, a flirtatious woman whose frivolous name is not mentioned in the novella, encounters the struggles of being a married woman on a ranch full of men; Crooks is a black man that experiences seclusion from the other workers due to his race. Ultimately, though both characters live an involuntarily reclusive life from the enduring
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Both characters feel overwhelmingly lonely, and Curley's wife vents out her frustrations as she exclaims, “‘Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody? Whatta they think I am, anyways?...I don’t know why I can’t talk to you. I ain’t doin’ no harm to you’” (Steinbeck 87-88). Basically, the workers on the ranch often avoid Curley’s wife because they want to avoid trouble with her husband, who would prefer her to stay in the house as women are expected to. Similarly, Crooks is isolated from his fellow workers in his own room as black men are not equals in this time period, causing him to dwell in his own loneliness. Despite the similarity of isolation between the two characters, the difference of how each character deals with this loneliness is substantial: “‘You got no right to come in my room...I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain’t wanted in my room’” (Steinbeck 68). Unlike Curley’s wife, Crooks has been belittled his entire life for being black, so he insists that he deserves this treatment and refuses to make any connections with the other men. On the other hand, Curley’s wife refuses to be treated as an object, so she flirts with the migrant workers to gain attention as she is desperate to feel wanted as she once did before
Both characters feel overwhelmingly lonely, and Curley's wife vents out her frustrations as she exclaims, “‘Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody? Whatta they think I am, anyways?...I don’t know why I can’t talk to you. I ain’t doin’ no harm to you’” (Steinbeck 87-88). Basically, the workers on the ranch often avoid Curley’s wife because they want to avoid trouble with her husband, who would prefer her to stay in the house as women are expected to. Similarly, Crooks is isolated from his fellow workers in his own room as black men are not equals in this time period, causing him to dwell in his own loneliness. Despite the similarity of isolation between the two characters, the difference of how each character deals with this loneliness is substantial: “‘You got no right to come in my room...I ain’t wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain’t wanted in my room’” (Steinbeck 68). Unlike Curley’s wife, Crooks has been belittled his entire life for being black, so he insists that he deserves this treatment and refuses to make any connections with the other men. On the other hand, Curley’s wife refuses to be treated as an object, so she flirts with the migrant workers to gain attention as she is desperate to feel wanted as she once did before