Skip to main content

How does Steinbeck present Curley's Wife in Chapter 4 in Of Mice and Men?

When Crooks and Lennie are talking to Candy about their dream of having land in Crooks’s room in the stable, Curley’s wife comes in.  We have already been introduced to her.  The men on the ranch avoid her because they think she is trouble.  They worry that she is a tease.  Her entrance seems to confirm this reputation.



"Any you boys seen Curley?"


They swung their heads toward the door. Looking in was Curley's wife. Her face was heavily made up. Her lips were slightly parted. She breathed strongly, as though she had been running. (Ch. 4) 



Curley’s wife, Candy, and Crooks all have one thing in common—they are lonely.  They were getting along well until Curley’s wife came in.  She tells them that all men are scared, so she can get along with one man, but not a group. 


Curley’s wife uses the advantage of her status to be rude to the other men. She is racist to Crooks.  He was opening up to the other men, disarmed by Lennie’s honesty and genuine nature, but she turned him into a shell again. 


Candy stands up to her, telling her to get out.  She turns on him too, telling him the only reason he is hanging out with Crooks (and Lennie) is because he has no money. 



Curley's wife laughed at him. "Baloney," she said. "I seen too many you guys. If you had two bits in the worl', why you'd be in gettin' two shots of corn with it and suckin' the bottom of the glass. I know you guys." (Ch. 4) 



When the conversation turns to how Curley got hurt, she gets angry.  The story is that he got his had caught in a machine.  She knows this is not true, and asks Lennie about the bruises on his face.  Curley’s wife is irritated that they are not telling her the truth.  She teases Lennie, calling him “Machine.”  Candy tells her to leave Lennie alone.  Curley's wife zigzags from wanting to include herself in the men's lives because she is also lonely to belittling and condemning them.


While the reader often feels sorry for Curley's wife, her treatment of Crooks engenders no sympathy.  She treats him terribly, looking down on him because of his race.  He tries to tell her to leave, and she tells him he has no right to because he is black.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

etymology - Origin of the greeting "Sweet dreams".

Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are the similarities between the relationships of the characters in The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet?

At first glance, it might appear as if the characters in  The Outsiders  by S. E. Hinton and  Romeo and Juliet  by William Shakespeare do not have much in common; however, when one isolates the core of the conflicts, it becomes clear that the relationships in both stories are rooted in rivalry and secrecy.  In both  The Outsiders  and  Romeo and Juliet , an overarching theme is rivalry. While   socioeconomic status separates the greasers from the Socs in The Outsiders , last names separates the Montagues from the Capulets, who appear to be relatively equal in terms of socioeconomic status. Due to these rivalries, there are instances of deadly interactions in both stories. In  The Outsiders , Johnny kills Bob (whether his actions were justified or not is debatable). In  Romeo and Juliet , Romeo kills Tybalt and Paris, and Tybalt kills Mercutio. These deaths have profound effects on the main characters. In Ponyboy's case, the Johnny's death and other events in the novel inspire h...
Post a Comment
Read more