Initially the character of Curley’s Wife is described to the readers by the men on the ranch that George and Lennie last work on, in their conversations with each other, before Curley’s Wife’s character is fully introduced with speech and description of physical appearance. Expressions, such as the idiom “she got the eye”, are used to describe her, implying that she is promiscuous and flirtatious, something that is later emphasised by her being referred to by the derogatory term of “tart£, implying that she is suggestive and perhaps even similar to a prostitute in terms of the way she portrays herself. The word “tart” could also suggest that she presents herself flamboyantly in front of the men at the ranch, illustrating her desperation for attention. The fact that she is married and is still promiscuous and portrays herself flamboyantly in front of other men could suggest that she is unfaithful and immoral, or alternatively that her sexual needs are not fulfilled by her husband, providing a reasonable explanation to why Curley wears a glove “fulla vasaline”, something that is seen as “dirty” by George. She is described to be “heavily made up” which could add to her being unfaithful and untrue as she almost is disguised and covered up by cosmetics, covering her real natural appearance. Steinbeck purposefully conveys Curley’s Wife negatively through the ranch men in order to create an initial pessimistic and hateful approach toward her character by the readers.…
Curley’s wife is also another character who would very happily settle for the attentive ear of a stranger. She admits to Lennie that she is unhappily married when she says “I ain’t told this to nobody before. Maybe I ought to. I don’t like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella”.…
“If you ever just happen to get in trouble like you have always done before, I want you to come right here and hide in the brush.”(doc B) In the story Of Mice and Men there are two main characters, George and Lennie. George is average sized and intelligent, and Lennie is tall, very muscular, and below average. George and Lennie have a farm dream that they will own land, so they go to work on a ranch to earn money. A worker there, Candy, offers to go in with 300 dollars. Everything is looking good until Lennie accidentally kills Curley’s wife, and Curley is a hothead. He wants to kill Lennie very painfully, but George gets there first. He has to shoot him in the back of the head. Steinbeck uses foreshadowing to indicate the deaths of the farm dream, Curley’s wife, and Lennie.…
In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck presents Curley’s Wife having an amazing look. Steinbeck writes that, ‘she had full, rouged lips,her fingernails were red,she wore red mules. The repetition of the colour red here maybe symbolizes the fact that Curley’s Wife is confident about her appearance. The thing which stands out about her is when he refers to her as ‘good looking’. This might show that Curley’s Wife is confident about her looks and femininity because her dream is to be a film star. This might also show she wants to get attention from the men because she is regularly on her own and lonely.…
Steinbeck uses Curley’s wife to represent how many women in the 1930s were classed below men, and how this prejudice allowed their lives to be defined by the men around them. In this passage, Steinbeck has manipulated Curley’s wife’s appearance in order to reinforce our pre judged feelings towards her, based on gossip and rumours told by Candy.…
Curley's wife is one of the most significant characters in John Steinbeck's novel "Of mice and men," although we never learn her name. We learn about her through her own words and actions and also through other characters' descriptions and opinions of her. Before Curley's wife makes her first appearance, she is introduced to us through Candy's opinion of her. He tells George that, although she has only been married to Curley for two weeks, she has already "got the eye." He also describes he as "a tart" that has been flirting with both Slim and Carlson. Curley's wife's first appearance is dramatic. She suddenly appears in the open doorway, cutting off the bright sunlight, as if she has brought the darkness with her. The reader is already influenced by Candy's description of her so that when Steinbeck describes her as having "full rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up" we see this as confirmation of her being "a tart." Equally, it could simply mean that she takes pride in her appearance and tries to get noticed. However, she does flaunt herself " she smiled archly and twisted her body" and is clearly aware that Lennie is fascinated with her. George's first impression of Curley's wife is that she is "a tramp" and the worst "piece of jail-bait" he has ever seen. Later in the novel, the young ranch hand Whit also tells George that he thinks Curley's wife flaunts her body and has "got the eye goin' all the time on everybody." He agrees with George that she is trouble. Steinbeck gives us a more direct insight into Curley's wife's character in the scene when she meets Candy, Lennie and Crooks in Crooks' room. She sneers at the men, telling them that men are afraid to talk to her when there is more than one of them present, "You're all scared of each other, that's what." When she says, "They left all the weak ones here" she may mean it as an insult, but she also seems to accept that she is one of "the weak ones" who has been left behind, because she knows Curley…
In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck creates characters that play important roles throughout the story that contribute to themes and connect readers to an overall focus. Curley’s wife, a minor, but significant character in the story, contributes to the theme and is partly responsible for Lennie’s death. Her sinful actions and petty personality make her a character that isn’t respected by others and is known for being trouble around the ranch. Disregarding her flirtations ways and overall self-absorbance, her dreams of a promising future are destroyed. Her gaudy appearance and constant search for Curley makes the men on the ranch view her as a cheater and inappropriate woman. However, after hearing her story, some of…
From the moment George and Lennie were introduced to Curley’s wife, we could feel the tension rise. From just fleeing the last place they worked because of a run in with Lennie touching a woman, it’s an acceptable accusation that Curley’s wife will be directed to the conflict of the story. Another moment that predicted the end of the story was when Carlson shot Candy’s dog. Carlson said that the dog was aged and useless, that he wreaked of everything that smelt crummy and there is no point in keeping him around. It is safe to say this was a direct comparison to how useless everyone saw Lennie and we could infer that something similar that happened to Candy’s dog would happen to Lennie later on in the novella. Steinbeck made us see the treatment of elderly and mentally ill…
Steinbeck uses the fact that Curley’s wife is the only female of the ranch to post her as a threat to the male ranch workers. When she is first introduced it isn’t pleasant. Candy starts of by saying ‘I seen her give slim the eye’ this instantly gives the reader an idea she is a bit flirtatious. He then continues to say ‘Well, I think Curley’s married…a tart.’ This gives the reader a view of her characteristics and we are put off by them.…
Steinbeck presents Curley’s wife as the only women in the ranch and because she doesn’t have a name it shows that she is not important and she is someone’s belonging. The first time you hear about Curley’s wife is when candy describes her to George. Candy uses expression such as “she got the eye” and goes on to describe her as looking at other man because of this they call her a “tart”. Through Candy’s words, we could develop an initial perception of Curley’s wife as Flirty and even promiscuous. This manipulates us by leading us into having a negative view of her.…
In John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” Curly wife is shown as a person with very…
In some ways, Curley’s wife is not all that different to the other Ranch workers, by the way in which she has a dream. “I coulda made somethin’ of myself...Maybe I will yet”, in this quotation she talks about her dream, a dream that she still deems as realistic. I believe that Steinbeck is trying to portray her as quite similar to the Ranch guys in some ways, by the way she also has a dream to get off the Ranch and do something that she loves. Whilst saying this, Steinbeck could also be trying to portray her as quite a gullible and ignorant person, in a way. This is by the way that she has completely fallen head over heals for two men, not just one, who tell her she could run off with them and be in the movies with them. Not only this, but she also managed to turn the blame on to her mother by saying, “I always thought my ol’ lady stole it”. Curley’s wife is talking about when she was expecting to receive letters from one of her ‘lovers’, but is gullible enough and ignorant enough to end up taking it out on her mother and marrying Curley in spite of that incident.…
The moment that Curley’s wife was introduced it indicated that Lennie would be getting into a mess with her. George states in the very beginning of the book that Lennie is always getting into mishaps, “You do bad things and I have to get you out.” The situation in Weed involved a girl, and Curley’s wife just happened to be the only girl on the ranch. Later on, there was intimation that she was going to be killed by Lennie because he killed the mouse and the puppy, leading to better deaths such as Curley’s wife.…
Steinbeck foreshadows forthcoming conflicts within the story due to a lack of companionship and trust amongst the farmers. After being shamed by the men, Curley’s wife declares, “‘You’re all scared of each other, that’s what. Ever’ one of you’s scared the rest is going’ to get something on you’” (Steinbeck 77). By accusing the men of being fearful and skeptical of one another, Curley’s wife hints upon disputes and predicaments that are to soon arise on the ranch. For instance, Lennie has a compelling desire to stroke soft things due to his mental illness. Subsequently, Lennie becomes the cause of his puppy's death after petting it too forcefully. In an attempt comfort Lennie, Curley’s wife offers Lennie a piece of her hair for him to stroke. Following this, Lennie loses all self-control, shaking Curley’s wife and, eventually, snapping her neck. As a result of the chaos created by Lennie, the true morbidity of the other farmers is revealed after forming a group with intentions to lynch Lennie. Even George, Lennie’s only true friend in life, makes the final decision to shoot Lennie in the back of the head in order to relieve himself of the burden that is Lennie, himself. The men’s inability to look past Lennie’s mistake reveals their lack of trust and companionship amongst one another, all of which was foreshadowed by the blatant words spoken by Curley’s wife.…
Curley's Wife is the only woman on the ranch so she is left out because of her gender. She is married to Curley and he doesn’t show her the affection. It shows she feels lonely when she states, "I get awful lonely" (Steinbeck 87) to Lennie. Since she is so lonely she goes into the bunkhouse to find other men for some company. The men would refuse to spend time with her because of her husband's reaction. So she decided to go spend some time with Lennie, a mentally challenged man, and while they were talking she asked Lennie to feel her hair. This lead to Lennie snapping her neck and killing…