Steinbeck portrays Curley's wife at the beginning of the novel as a tramp, a tart that threatens to destroy any male on the ranch. However, her appearances later in the novel that show her to have a more vulnerable, humane side change that. For example, the scene when she confronts Lennie, Candy and Crooks in the stables (109-114) shows her from a completely different perspective. It suggests that she is not entirely malevolent and can be considered innocent, however ultimately she does bring about her own doom. Curley's wife is an insecure, misunderstood and lonely woman caught in a tragic situation.
We can see that Curley’s wife is portrayed by Steinbeck as a ‘tart’ in the beginning of the book, she is not cared for or liked by many of the men on the ranch at all as she irritates them and they think that she is not loyal towards Curley. However, by the end of the book the reader feels sorry for her as we see deeper inside her and see how lonely she is, she only has the image of a tart because she is so alone and the only way she knows to make friends is by being a flirtatious person. The first mention of Curley’s wife is in chapter 2 when George and ‘the swamper’ are talking about her. They say that she is ‘Purty ... but- well-she got the eye’. They mean that she is always looking and flirting with other men.
Why must I pretend I don’t know? Why are these people killing Negroes? What did Emmett Till do besides whistle at that woman” (Moody 404). The fact that Anne has all these questions, but is not getting any answers starts to make her angry, she becomes upset at those who killed Emmett Till, and even Negroes. Anne stated, “I hated them for not standing up and doing something about the murders.
John denies Abigail saying that it will never happen because he loves his wife. Their relationship isn’t the strongest but love is there. This so called love drives Abigail to accuse Johns wife of witchcraft so that she is to be hanged for committing sins against the bible. She thinks that killing Johns wife would make him love her even though John has told her otherwise so many times already. Her actions actually hurt John greatly throughout the story.
Josie resents Nonna’s interference in both hers’ and Mama’s lives and despises her grandmother for being set in her ways. Josie could not live with the fact that Nonna had been such a hypocrite, treating her mum the way she did. Josie and Mama have a close relationship and Josie doesn’t want anyone between them. One minute they love each other to bits and spend hours in deep and meaningful conversations and the next they will be fight about the most ridiculous things. Christina is unmarried
In the Crucible, Abigail is tormented by the fact that she had been caught out having an affair with John Proctor. This creates conflict between John’s wife Elizabeth and Abigail. Abigail is devastated that she cannot be with John and lashes out in fury and creates chaos in the heart of the town with her false accusations within Salem. Abigail’s uncontrollable acts rise which result in the hanging of many people, ultimately destroying the love of her life. She was blinded by her own problems in life that she couldn’t see her ways, although to John, Abigail was transparent.
Throughout Miller’s novel The Crucible, religion is heavily criticized and the institution of it in Salem. Criticism is displayed when Abigail reveals her hatred for Salem and the key values the town lived by: “I never knew what pretense Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men” (I. 22). Abigail criticized the way religion was taught and the context of religion in Salem. Miller argues that Salem’s teachings to the people amongst one another was wrong doing with the fact that few people such as Abigail saw them as too drastic or immorally wrong.
For instance, Abigail lies when questioned about having an affair with farmer John Proctor, her former employer. While Proctor confesses his lechery, Abigail proclaims that the affair did not take place. When directly questioned, Abigail refuses to answer. Another instance of dishonesty is Abigail’s accusations during her crying out. Cornered into admitting to participating in dark magic, she still cannot take responsibility for her actions and instead accuses others of cooperating with the devil.
This suggests how little respect women were given in that particular time period; Curley’s wife is a woman, and therefore not good enough to have an actual name. She is avoided by everyone on the ranch because they fear she is trying to seduce the men; she is objectified, and never thought of as a real person with
Out for blood all trying to tell herself that what she did was right that she isn’t as rotten as she seems. As she says in a high pitched anger, “She is blackening my name in the village. She is telling lies about me” (146). She is trying to say that she isn’t a whore that she didn’t do what she did but she did she is mentally unstable. Next, she is in denial she still believes that john proctor still loves her that he still cares for her.