A male-centered society Essays

A male-centered society Essays A male-centered society Essay A male-centered society Essay On the other hand, Steinbeck presents Curley’s wife as sexual temptation and trouble-maker. She is a beautiful woman who constantly shows off her beauty to the men on the ranch. She dresses inappropriately/inadequately for a woman living on the farm and being married the boss’ son. When she is seen for the first time in the bunk house, she has â€Å"full, rouged lips †¦. heavily made up. Her finger nails are red† and she wears â€Å"red †¦ feathers† on her â€Å"red mules†. (page 34) By presenting her wearing a lot of red, the writer suggests that she symbolizes danger and love. Being the boss’ son’s wife, men on the ranch see her rather as a dangerous temptation that as a beautiful woman. She cannot provide any sex because she is Curley’s wife and the only thing she can cause is trouble. Curley’s wife begins to be presented in a sympathetic way as the story progresses. Finally, Steinbeck offers a sympathetic view of Curley’s wife in chapter 5 by allowing her to voice her unhappiness and her own dream for a better life. She dies shortly after her confession in the barn reinforcing the men’s vision that there is no place for a woman on the farm. â€Å"Ranch with a bunch of guys on it ain’t no place for a girl, especially like her! † (page 58) Men’s lifestyle at the time meant they were always travelling and never settle down and get married. In the men’s vision this is a world structured around them and brothels. Opposite to Curley’s wife, George’s girl represents the devoted and loving wife or girlfiend, the woman who every man dreams to have as a wife. It seems like the writer wants to suggest that there were also good women in the 1930s society even if they were a minority. George talks with tenderness (gentelness) and regret about having a â€Å"girl† when he talks about letting Lennie away, settle down and have a stable life. Aunt Clara is introduced by George as a caretaker character. She is not Lennie’s mother, but she is blood relative and has taken Lennie to look after him when his mother died. She is presented as a â€Å"little old fat woman† (page 113) but when she is talked about it is in a respectful tone. She symbolises the loving and protective mother, the writer’s vision of wholesome femininity. Moreover, she is an authoritative figure. We can see that in the last pages of the novel when she appears in Lennie’s dream before his dead. â€Å"I tol’ you an’ tol’ you†, she says telling Lennie off because he did another â€Å"bad thing†. In the contrary, Curley’s wife’s mother is introduced by Curley’s wife as the controlling woman, the â€Å"ol’ lady† who â€Å"stole† (page 100) her letter from a guy who promised her that will â€Å"put [her] in the movies† (page 99). Curley’s wife’s mother symbolizes the possessive mother who wants her daughter to comply with the rules of early 20th century of being a wife and being submissive to the husband she was belonging to. She is, also, a protective mother who worried she was â€Å"on’y fifteen† and too young to have an independent life.