Of Mice and Men
Themes- Women
Very few women are shown in Of Mice and Men, which is not surprising given the characters the
book is about. It appears that these traveling laborers are unable to find stable, respectful
relationships with women. Instead, they make do with the company of prostitutes on the weekends
for "a flop" (57).
The views expressed on the subject have every reason to cause the contemporary reader to pause,
regardless of how their attitudes toward women may be connected to their unsatisfying lives. In
the book, George only shows respect for two types of women: Aunt Clara, who is portrayed as a
mother figure, and prostitutes. Aunt Clara is the only woman whose responsibility it is for George
to take care of Lennie. Give me a good whorehouse every time, he demands (61). George
appreciates how simple the setup is at a prostitution house.
The novel's only significant female character—who isn't even given a name—doesn't neatly fall
into either category. She is both a domestic figure—after all, she lives at home with Curley and
spends most of her time there—and a flirtatious, intensely sexualized one. She is a major source
of tension and anxiety in the book because of her position as someone who alternates between
domesticity and prostitution. George immediately recognizes that she will cause trouble and that
she does.
The author's uncomplicated willingness to attribute the role of troublemaker to one unnamed
woman may cause some readers to raise an eyebrow. The novel frequently makes Curley's wife
the victim. She is held accountable for the lustful emotions she arouses. Candy yells misogynistic
insults at her corpse even after she has tragically died. Although it is obvious that Curley's wife's
life is miserable, we are not urged to adopt her point of view. These episodes are always followed
by instances of manipulation and threatening behavior, even when she expresses how miserable
her loneliness is. In fact, her corpse is praised more in death than she was in life, making her death
hardly poignant. The reader has every right to wonder why Steinbeck gave us such an unkind
impression of this woman and, by extension, of women in general.