Curley is the boss’ son, therefore he acts as though he is the boss himself “like the boss, he wore high-heeled boots.” Not only does Curley act like boss he physically impersonates the dress of the boss; In society the boss is of the highest stature Curley is portrayed by Steinbeck to be the highest in stature by physically making him taller in order to show his high status in the way people physically have to look up to him.
The way in which Steinbeck portrays Curly treating George and Lennie and the ranch workers in general shows Curley’s personality immediately upon first impressions. Curley is disliked by pretty much everyone on the ranch. George almost immediately dislikes Curley’s hostility, and returns this behaviour to Curley “I don’t like mean little guys.” George had only just met Curley and had already come to the conclusion that he doesn’t like him. Steinbeck has presented Curley in a very simple way in that he isn’t an easy character to get along with, he is suggested to be uptight and in many ways is portrayed to be translucent in that George is able to see the personality of his acquaintance upon first meeting.
In the background of the dialect between the ranch hands, Steinbeck presents Curley in a positive light even though it is never directly aired, in a conversation between George and Candy, Steinbeck presents a positive side of Curley “’Curley’s pretty handy, the swamper said’” Candy is shown to appreciate Curley’s skill, we are able to see that the hatred towards Curley is self-inflicted upon himself, Steinbeck subtly hints that is an account of his aggressive nature and hostility rather than simply being a case of nastiness and superiority.
Steinbeck presents Curley as having a desire to fight with people all the time; it shows Curly to have an