Curley's Wife Theme Of Loneliness

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Pages: 3

Loneliness is a major theme present throughout this novel. George reminds Lennie that the life of a ranch man is among the loneliest. People like George who migrate from farms rarely have anyone to look to for friendship and company. The people living on the ranch deal with their isolation by going into town for women and alcohol. Steinbeck, the author, depicts the characters as desperate strangers looking for companionship. Crooks is isolated because of his skin color, Candy is lonely after his dog dies, and Curley’s wife is unhappily married. As the story develops, Crooks, Candy and Curley’s wife all admit their loneliness. The illuminating incident that builds up the theme is when Curley’s wife walks into the barn to visit the men.
Although present in all the characters to some degree, the theme of loneliness is most particularly present in Curley's wife. She is only woman on the ranch, and her husband has forbidden
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It could have been because she was viewed as one of Curley's possessions, and because of this everyone stayed away. They were all afraid of Curley and didn't want any bother from him so they left her alone. Curley’s wife, gave up on her dreams of becoming an actress and lives a life of isolation. She can’t have relatable conversations with her husband who seems to only talk about fighting. In a way she’s a misunderstood character. The author depicts her as a beautiful young woman who is flirtatious, however no one other than Candy seems to have issues with her. He tells them that she is out with other men on the ranch. After hearing this, George tells Lennie to stay away from her. Coincidentally enough, the only time when she makes a flirtatious comment is when she talks about what happened to Curley’s hand. Lennie tells her that he got it caught in a machine. She refers to Lennie as a machine and says how she likes machines. Her character develops the theme again when this