Curley's Wife Quotes

John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men follows the journey of two men, George Milton and Lennie Small, who struggle through the navigation of working on a ranch in California and fulfilling their dreams together during a time of financial depression. The novel begins with George and Lennie traveling through the California wilderness to get to a new ranch just south of Soledad where they are going to begin new work. They had to leave their previous jobs in a town called Weed because Lennie had caused trouble with a girl by holding on to her red dress because he wanted to feel it, and this incident spiraled into rape allegations against Lennie. As George and Lennie make their way to the new ranch, Lennie; who is a large, but simple minded man; found a dead mouse and wanted to keep it to pet because he likes soft things. George, who is more serious and protects Lennie, takes the mouse away from him because even though it’s dead, he should not be messing with it. Lennie often does not realize his strength because of his mental incapabilities and as a result, he causes a lot of trouble and harm. George finds taking care of Lennie to be taxing, but he knows that their friendship is an important bond that he does not want to be without. In order to comfort Lennie in the wilderness, George tells the story of their shared dream to own their own ranch where they can follow their own rules and live as they please. When they finally arrive at the ranch the next day, George and Lennie

Curley’s wife acts very provocative, playful, childish and flirtatious, this is because she is very lonely and has no power at all. Nobody knows the real person she is because no one ever dares to get in trouble with her. Curley’s wife is often presented negatively by Steinbeck such as when she is cruel to crooks after his hopes have been raised by the dream. This is easily shown when Curley’s wife snaps at Crooks. “keep your place then, Nigger.

to Crooks' door when all the men are in town on Saturday night we realize that she is

Have you ever had a dream? “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them” - Walt Disney. The story of mice and men had many dreamers from owning a farm to being in the movies, to even just getting someone to talk to. In the story we find the lost dream of Curley's wife and how unhappy she is living. we also find out about George’s and Lennie’s dream that gives them reason to live and work as they do. One last thing we hear is how draw in people are to George and Lennie’s dream. These dreams are the push they need to keep going.

Crooks tells Lennie, "A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody" (Steinbeck 72). Men need other people around them so they don’t go mad. John Steinbeck uses the characters Candy, Crooks, and Curley's Wife to display loneliness and the need for companionship in his novel Of Mice and Men.

Several instances throughout the novel prove Curley's wife to be ignorant, especially toward the weaker ranch workers. A prime example of her ignorance is displayed in

Although, some may interpret the way she dresses as a veil, protecting her from any offending comments the ranch workers may have. As well as this, it is known that Curley’s wife was not intended to be rude because John Steinbeck wrote a letter to Claire Luce, who was the first ever actress to play Curley's Wife in theatre, describing how he pictured his character as a 'more naive, innocent young woman, rather than a tart.' This shows that she is misunderstood because she is often interpreted by both readers and other characters differently to how the author himself intended; the reader really only understands this softer side, her after her death. Furthermore, in the previous quote, Steinbeck lists all her negative qualities as having 'gone from her face', which suggests that all along they were a mask hiding her true self, prompting people to misunderstand her. But, Steinbeck also describes her need for attention as an 'ache', conveying a painful, yet natural feeling, which suggests that this mask was automatic and involuntary. It is unfair to say that Curley’s wife is not portrayed as a rude character in the novel, but you can also look at her human qualities of wanting to be loved, and having nobody to love her.

While Crooks, a victim of racial prejudice, expresses his isolation openly, he also socializes with the other workers on the job and while playing horseshoes with them. Curley’s wife, on the other hand, cannot talk to anyone without suffering the consequences of a jealous husband: “I get lonely,’ she said. “You can talk to people, but I can’t talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad. How’d you like not to talk to anybody?” (87) More specifically,after meeting him that same night, Curley’s wife ran away from home to marry Curley to spite her mother. She further confessed to Lennie she doesn’t even like Curley. As a result, she left one situation hoping to move closer to capturing her dreams, but her companion’s jealous and violent behavior prevents her from even socializing with others.(88) Therefore, she went from living with multiple people to living with only Curley, who is supposed to be her companion and someone she

I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain't even funny." This quote tells us that Curley's Wife knows that she is above Crooks in the social hierarchy since she is white and he is black and has a disability. When she talks to Crooks she is also very confident and disrespectful and uses racist language. When you zoom into the quote you will also see a ellipses in the quote which shows the tension and anger which Curley's Wife would never show to the other men even Lennie. Steinbeck may have used this language to emphasise the villain in herself. Which tells us that if she had more power she would use it in a negative way. You can also tell that Curley's Wife is releasing her anger towards Crooks since he is one of the only people she can show her

"He got married a couple of weeks ago. Wife lives over in the boss’s house, seems like Curley's even cockier since he got married" Candy doesn’t seem to like Curley’s wife

When Crooks, Lennie, and Candy were sitting in in the bunkhouse, Curley’s wife wanders into the bunkhouse and how Steinbeck says, “Looking in was Curley’s wife.” giving her no name at all! She must not be as important as everyone else if she doesn’t have a name (77). She’s also judged on her appearance and how she puts herself out there, Steinbeck mentions to the readers and says “She dropped her fingers and put her hands on her hips.” making it seem like she’s the stuff and run everyone and everything on the ranch (77). She probably acts the way she does because she doesn’t get to talk to anyone. Everyone is scared to talk to her or just doesn’t want to get into anything with Curley. She’s very lonely and she is the only girl on the farm. As she walked into the barn she saw Lennie and started talking to him and Lennie refused to talk back and that’s when she said “Ain’t I got a right to talk to nobody?” she’s upset because she doesn’t do anything all day long and has no one to talk too and she finally lost it and said something about it (87).

George Milton and Lennie Small are drifters, struggling to hold a job to achieve their American dream; owning their own ranch. The author, John Steinbeck uses examples that reinforce gender stereotypes throughout the short story Of Mice and Men. Curley’s wife is considered poor and is married to the ranch owner’s son. This can be found as the disrespect of Curley’s wife by all of the men on the ranch. This links to the gender stereotype that women are only an object or possession to men. The gender stereotype is that all of the men are all hard working every day with labour intensive jobs on the ranch, however Curley’s wife just flirts with all the men. The last stereotype is that all women are manipulative and lie. Steinbeck plays on these

It was a Sunday afternoon, and Curley was playing horseshoes out with them other farm workers. I wanted to get away from that blasted Curley. He never let me talk to anyone, not anyone on the farm. Not only that, he won’t even treat me like I’m his wife, barely even talkin’ to me unless he had a hateful thing to say. I’m tired of life on this farm.

“Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts.” This quote, once said by E. B. White, excellently states what the novel, Of Mice and Men, is trying to clearly state. Of Mice and Men is a profound novel that has many things to teach society. This novel, written by John Steinbeck, reflects many flaws in the world today. It mirrors many of the characteristics that every human possesses. Prejudice is still a common way of thinking in today’s society, and to the people who feel victimized, it can be hard to overcome. Curley’s wife, Lennie, and Crooks all deal with prejudice against themselves different ways.

In the novella Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck, the relationship between Lennie Small and George Milton is complex. Lennie and George are two companions who look for work and brave the hardships of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression together. Although Lennie and George are both grown men, their relationship resembles more of a child and a single parent, or a boy and his dog. Lennie is portrayed as animalistic and childish through his behavior and Steinbeck’s comparisons. This reveals the crucial power dynamic in George and Lennie’s relationship.