Of Mice And Men Curley's Wife Analysis

In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the two main characters, George and Lennie, frequently run into Curley, a contentious and hostile man. Curley is one of the main sources of conflict in the book, as we see when George warns Lennie: “…You gonna have trouble with that Curley guy… He’s gonna take a sock at you the first chance he gets” (Steinbeck, 29). Curley is representative of aggression and oppression, which Steinbeck shows us in both Curley’s actions and words. Curley tries to pick fights and start arguments. For instance, he instigates numerous fights with various characters, always being the aggressor. This is shown especially when he challenges Carlson: “You keep outta this ‘les you wanta step outside” (Steinbeck, 62). Once Carlson tells him off, he turns his anger to Lennie, who in Curley’s his mind is the easiest target due to Lenny’s his simple demeanor: “Curley stepped over to Lennie like a terrier. ‘What the hell you laughin’ at?’” (Steinbeck, 62). This is one of several times that Steinbeck depicts Curley accosting someone else.
Although Curley is Always asking her whereabouts, but never interested in talking to her shows that Curley sees his wife as a possession rather than a person. Slim calls him out on this, saying “If you can’t look after your own God damn wife, what you expect me to do about it?” (Steinbeck, 62). This, of course, leads to the aforementioned encounter with Lennie. Furthermore, the relationship that Curley breeds with his wife is by no means a good one. They both harbor resentment towards each other, as shown when Curley’s wife says “Well, I ain’t told this to nobody before…I don’ like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella.” (Steinbeck, 89). She then goes on to talk about her dreams and aspirations, and then says that she merely settled for a marriage with