Curley's Wife
=============
At first, Curley's wife is described to the reader through the comments of the men on
the ranch. Candy tells Lennie and George when he first meets them that she ' got the
eye' for the men on the ranch, even though she has only been married to Curley for
two weeks. Candy thinks that she is 'a tart'.
We first meet Curley's wife when she comes into the bunkhouse, when Lennie and
George are in there. She is apparently looking for Curley but she already knows that
new men have arrived. Steinbeck gives a detailed description of her as she stands in
the doorway of the bunkhouse and talks to Lennie and George. She is 'heavily made
up', with 'full rouged lips' and red fingernails. Her body language is provocative as
she positions herself in the doorway so that 'her body was thrown forward'. She
smiles 'archly' and 'twitched her body'. The general impression the reader gains is of
a young girl who is pretty and wants the attention of men.
George's reaction to Curley's wife, however, makes the reader realize that she is a
potential threat to the two men. George sees her as 'poison' and 'jailbait'. He is angry
with Lennie's admiration of her 'she's purty' and fiercely tells him that he must stay
away from her. 'Don't you even take a look at that bitch.' Later, when we find out
what happened at Weed, where Lennie frightens a woman by stroking her dress and
they are forced to flee the town from a lynch mob, we understand why George is so
alarmed that she will be the cause of more trouble for them.
Whit's opinion of Curley's wife is one of bewilderment, he sees
through the flirty appearance and just sees a girl trying too seek
attention, but he still doesn't understand why she acts like ...
... middle of paper ...
...only married Curley to get away from home. She
met him at the Riverside Dance Palais, probably attracted to him because he was the
son of a ranch owner. Now, however, the reality is that she doesn't even like him. 'He
ain't a nice fella', she confides in Lennie. When they are talking together she shows
some kindness to Lennie when she realizes that he understands little of what she is
saying. After she is dead we are shown by Steinbeck a different side of Curley's wife.
In death the 'meanness and the plannings and the discontent and the ache for
attention' have gone from her face. We see she is just a young and pretty girl.
Steinbeck's description of her dead body seems designed to make us see her as a victim of life.
The best laid plans o' mice and
-------------------------------
men gang aft agley. (Robert Burns)
Best laid Plans often goes astray.
Curley’s wife, Crooks, and Candy are three characters who are constantly alone and feeling worthless. “Think I’m gonna stay in that two-by-four house and listen how Curley’s gonna lead” (78) Curley’s wife exclaims to Lennie, Crooks, and Candy. Constantly ignored by men, Curley’s wife acts overly nice and comes off as a flirty “rat-trap” (32). She
She spoke in Lennie’s voice. “I tol’ you an’ tol’ you,” she said. “I tol’ you, ‘Min’ George because he’s such a nice fella an’ good to you.’ But you don’t never take no care. You do bad things. George ain’t gonna want you aroun’ no more.”
Bailey; is the son of the grandmother. He and his wife ignores her, does not care much of her.
Due to child like qualities, Lennie is a person which would be easy prey and a vulnerable person. Lennie is a vulnerable person who is quite dumb. His has an obsession for touching soft thing and this will often lead him in to trouble. But poor Lennie is an innocent person who means no harm to anybody. When he and Curley get into a fight Lennie is too shocked to do any thing. He tries to be innocent but, when told to by George grabs Curley’s fist and crushes it. George is Lennie’s best friend and Lennie does every thing he tells him to do as demonstrated in the fight with “But you tol...
Curley's wife's' life was portrayed as a women who liked to be around other men to try to seduce them. She was described as many things, such as a tramp and other words other than Curley's wife. None of the employees on the ranch wanted to be around her because she was described as nothing but trouble. Lennie was the only one who showed her attention, but that ended badly.
The character of Curley’s Wife is very hard to unravel, as throughout the book, Steinbeck’s representation of women through characters such as George and Candy, is very harsh. This is because the sociological opinion at that time was that they were either, mothers, sisters, or prostitutes, as the audience soon see, George and other ranch workers refer to her as “bitch” “loo loo” and “tramp”. There were also a growing number of prostitutes during the Great Depression period, as they would offload their services to those whom were able to pay and have some decent income during the Depression. Other aspects that may make Curley’s Wife seem like a tart, is Curley’s “Glove Fulla’ Vaseline”. Curley literally keeps a glove full of Vaseline, in order to keep his hand soft, possibly for a sexual act. Curley boasts to Candy that the hand is for his wife, which tells us that she gives him consent to do these acts to her, and also, Curley’s nerve to inform fellow workers about his glove shows that he believes that his own wife is a tart, which is very controversial today, but back then, women were seen as nothing more than possessions, yours to do what you will. George informs Lennie to avoid Curley’s Wife at all costs, and not to talk to her, because of her promiscuous behaviour, he believes t...
The emotional symbiosis between George and Lennie helps each man. Lennie’s attachment to George is most strongly visible when Crooks suggests George is not coming back. Lennie is almost moved to hysterics and his fear does not quickly abate. George prefers to feign dislike for Lennie to Lennie’s face: “I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail” (7). When pressed, George reveals his true feelings for Lennie. “I want you to stay with me Lennie” (13). They stay together because “It’s a lot easier to go around with a guy you know” (35). Both men need and value their strong emotional relationship.
Curley’s wife has only been married to Curley for two weeks, but still the men on the ranch already have many negative opinions on her. These opinions and judgements take away from her authority and make her powerless on the ranch. While arguing with Curley about his wife Carlson says, “Whyn’t you tell her to stay the hell home where she belongs. You let her hang around bunkhouses and pretty soon you’re gonna have som’pin on your hands and you won’t be able to do nothing about it” (Steinbeck 62). The way Carlson speaks of Curley’s wife makes her sound like she is a possession, not a human being. This ties back into her not even having a name, but simply being defined by her relationship with Curley. Instead of confronting Curley’s wife about her behaviour, they consult with Curley instead and tell him that he needs to reign his wife in because she is too distracting and unpredictable. They treat her with no respect and it takes away from all of the authority that she should have over them because of her wealth and connection to Curley.
Furthermore, George is always trying to make Lennie happy in anyway possible. For example, George told Lennie that he’ll be
Curley's wife is seen as a cheap possession, a toy that belongs to Curley. A possession that he gets to control. His lack of love, respect and attention results to her death in the end. By all the men she’s seen as a tramp, they think that she’s out cause trouble. But the truth is she’s desperately lonely. She just wants someone to talk to. She’s missed out on a wonderful life that could have been hers, and that hurts her.
...r say anything. So she is stuck at a ranch where all the members there avoid her because she is trouble and can’t even run away because of her being a female in the early 1900’s made it almost impossible to survive on her own. She dresses a certain way to live out the American Dream the only way she can. She doesn’t dress that way to show off her body, she wants to feel like she is living her dream. She realizes that she is good looking and she uses that to her advantage to talk to some of the people at the ranch like Lennie. The only way she got to talk to Lennie was by letting him touch her hair. Steinbeck let Curley’s Wife die in such a peaceful way; I didn’t even realize she was dead until I read over the section multiple times. He left her there in the barn describing her beauty, showing the reader through Curley’s Wife that even the worst of us have humanity.
that he wants to tend. Lennie has been shot by George in the back of
Some people might think that George is not a true friend to Lennie. They may think this because George is mean to Lennie on occasion because he can not defend himself because he has a mental illness, but overall, George cares for Lennie, and helps him through thick and thin. George and Lennie have been at the farm for a few days now. Lennie is out, and George is talking to one of the other migrant workers. His name is Slim. George is talking to Slim about
Most of Steinbeck’s characters are stereotypical, or have some form of a stereotypical view towards them and Curley’s wife is no exception.
Curley is an insecure man, and that shows in his characterization. He is shown as being physically very small, and constantly brags about his expertise with women to all the men on the ranch. However, he is always worrying about where his wife is and who she