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