Curley's Wife Quotes Analysis

Curley’s Wife was a subject of Prejudice because she was a woman. During the 1930’s a woman’s place was to be at home raising a family, also women were seen as second class citizens and property of their husbands. Before we meet Curley’s Wife, the reader already has an opinion of her because of what the character Candy calls her- “jail bait”; George calls her a “tramp”. It’s implied that she is a tart and a promiscuous woman; she craves the attention her husband doesn’t give her.

In the barn, at the far end from the opening, lay a stack of hay bales. The sun shining through the small cracks. The quiet atmosphere surrounding the barn with dust flying through the air. From outside the sounds of horseshoes hitting against metal and a roaring cheers erupting through the barn.

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.

This portrayal shows how Curley’s wife just craves attention. She dresses herself completely in red as if screaming “Look at me! Notice me!” Dressing like this is one way in which she seeks attention and power. The reader might infer that she flaunts her sexuality in order to attract attention from the men, which would satisfy her desperate need to feel wanted. However, what she really wants is to be valued as a person. One example of how Curley’s wife finally gains power is in Crooks, the black stable buck’s room, when she confronts him for scolding her, Curley’s wife says, “‘You know what I could do?’ Crooks seemed to grow smaller, and he pressed himself against the wall. ‘Yes, ma’am.’ ‘Well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny’” (Steinbeck 80-81). Curley’s wife’s tone here is aggressive and excited, and this helps the reader to see that, when given the opportunity to gain power over another, she jumps at the chance. The sensation of having power gives her the feeling of authority, privilege and sovereignty. The reader can infer by her aforementioned reaction that Curley’s wife has missed out on this feeling her entire life, and is frequently the subject of powerlessness herself. When she spots Crooks’ weakness as a black man, she immediately seizes control and makes it obvious to him that she is

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.

Curley’s wife, who is never given a name, but always called “Curley’s wife”, is shown with a lot of sexual prejudice. She is referred to as a “looloo” (51) with a very flirtatious nature and “she got the eye goin’ all the time on everybody”, and she might “even gives the stable buck they eye” (51). A "ranch with a bunch of guys on it ain’t no place for a girl, specially like

Next, another character that deals with discrimination is Curley’s wife. As you observed right there, Curley’s wife was never given a real name or true identity in the story. She is judged and misunderstood all through the novella. On page 51, the author says, “‘Well ain’t she a looloo?... She ain’t concealin’ nothing.

Throughout the book, Curley’s wife is known as an evil temptation just because she’s a girl; however, when she is at her strongest it’s not because she is a girl it’s because she strips away Crooks power and tears him down to nothing. Curley’s wife walks into the stable where “all the weak ones [are]” (Steinbeck 77), and when they tell her to get out because shes no good, she threatens Crooks. She states, “‘Listen, nigger… You know what I can do to you if you open your trap?’... She closed in on him… ‘Well you keep your place then, nigger

This demonstrates how Curley’s wife’s uses her attraction of her body to achieve her desired outcome over the men, thus showing how Curley’s wife goes through the temporary nature of the shifts and notions of power to control the other men while having her life influenced by her husband.

Curley’s wife is referred to as a ‘tramp’ with unsporting evidence of actually ever being unfaithful. The men do not like to see her out of her home as they probably have a stereotypical mindset that women are suppose to stay at home. The men are misogynistic and describe Curley’s wife as a ‘bitch’. This meaning that the men hate her flirtatious ways but she is also seen as a danger.

Curley’s wife is described as the “tramp” and the “tart” in the book, but never once was her own name mentioned. Instead, she is always defined as Curley’s wife or Curley’s possession. She tells Lennie about her dreams of being a movie star. However, in a male-driven society, women are given less rights and do not have a true identity. They often have to rely on men, like how Curley’s wife relies on her husband as he is rich and has more power.

Whenever she’s missing Curley always thinks she’s cheating on him and goes around picking fights with people. “‘Thinks Slim is with his wife, don’t he?’”(Steinbeck 54). This quote shows what the ranch men think Curley is thinking when he comes in asks where his wife is and then where Slim is like he is trying to catch them in the act or something of that nature. Though he never catches her with anyone this still creates an issue because he thinks that she’s with someone which make him jealous and his jealousy in general causes problems for everyone. Even though she’s not always the cause of his jealous she’s painted as one of the main causes.

Curley’s wife is not well described and respected by the other characters. She is often looked down upon and discriminated against; partly due to her being a woman but also due to her behaviour towards the other men.

Though Crooks is a Black man he is a hell of a good worker, so he says himself. When he talks to Lennie and Candy he feels pleasure mixed with anger. When Curley 's wife comes in and threatens him, he feels small and scared and feels like he lost power and privileges over his room and realizes he is black and shouldn 't have back talked her. He knows what she could do to him for what he did, so she says her self. “She closed on him. “You know what I could do?”.....“Well, you keep your place then....I could get you strung up so easy it ain 't funny. '”(80, 81). Because she was a white female and the boss ' son 's Wife she had superiority over him and so he felt alone at that moment. He didn 't realize the cruelness of white folk when he was younger but as he grew older he did, mainly because of where he slept and the way he was treated. “ 'Why ain 't you wanted?”...“Cause I 'm black. They play cards in there, but I can 't play because I 'm black... '”(68). This

Perhaps as a further representation of her apparent insignificance she is always referred to as `Curley's wife', never given a name. She experiences further sexual prejudice in that none of the ranch hands will talk to her. This is partly because she can make up things about those she dislikes who will subsequently get `the can' and also because she is a `looloo' with a very flirtatious nature. "She got the eye goin' all the time on everybody. I bet she even gives the stable buck they eye. I don't know what the hell she wants" says