Different Power Relationships in Section 4 in 'Of Mice And Men'

Curley's wife comes in the bunkhouse, but Candy keeps telling her to go away. Then she starts talking about how she's lonely and an unhappy marriage.

Curleys wife is provocative with her body language as she is described to have “put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward” and “she looked at her fingernails”, she is very conscious of the affect she has on men and uses this to her advantage however her inappropriate clothes and her behavior I think are designed to provoke interest and attention rather than to invite intimacy, we later learn this is because of her loneliness in her marriage to Curley. Her loneliness is clear by her constant asking of the whereabouts of Curley proving she is just looking for an excuse to continue her conversation with the ranch workers.

Everyone has dreams, big and small. When one dreams, there is a scent of whimsical hope in the air mixed with the powerful drive for success to obtain their luminous goals. But, many times these luscious dreams end up in grief and pain instead of a promised joy due to the hurdles in life, such as the certain circumstances that society professes or the flaws in a person that restrains them from their aspirations. The writer, John Steinbeck, incorporates this ideology in his novella, Of Mice and Men by creating three pivotal characters. Lennie, Crooks, and George all have schemes that go wrong, and yet hope to illustrate their desires of fulfilling their American Dream and to be prosperous for their own independent purposes.

When Curley’s wife dies, Curley, rather than showing the reaction that would be expected of a man whose wife has just been killed. He does not appear to grieve at all in any way, barely looking at the body, or regarding the her death into his immediate future plans. Instead, his first thought is towards seeking revenge and hunting down Lennie. It is perhaps this moment in the novel which epitomises the way in which Curley is aggressive, nasty, and shows no concern

The reader sees fleeting glances of his insecurities, such as when he runs into the bunkhouse, demanding, “Any you guys seen my wife?”, for as much as Curley may brag about it, his wife is hardly ever by his side (Steinbeck 53). Curley lacks self-confidence, and must bully the other workers to raise his own self-esteem. Picking fights with other men, which is the one thing that saves Curley from his internal lack of confidence, also causes his demise: “Lennie grabs his entire fist in mid-swing, stopping him, and then proceeds to crush Curley's hand” (Bloom). His hand, which he used to beat others, was his only savior, and now Lennie has crushed it, which disables Curley even more and pushes him further away from the tall, confident, masculine fighter he wishes to be. His loneliness stems from insecurity, and his disabilities cause that insecurity.

Steinbeck uses the character’s effect on others to show oppression. In a conversation with George and Lennie, George says, “‘Jesus, what a tramp,’ he said. ‘So that’s what Curley picks for a wife’” (Steinbeck 32). This conversation shows what affect Curley’s wife has on George. The impression that she is a “tramp” shows the kind of oppression that Curley’s wife faces. In another conversation between George and Lennie, George tells Lennie, “... You get in trouble. You do bad things and I got to get you out” (11). This displays Lennie’s affect on George and how it can be degrading to Lennie because he can’t help the fact that he has a mental disability. This can prove that Lennie is being oppressed by George. The effect on the other characters help the readers see the oppression that the characters face.

George are in there. She is apparently looking for Curley but she already knows that

During a conversation between Candy and George Candy remarks "I seen her give Slim the eye... an I see her give Carlson the eye... Well I think Curley married a tart."(29) This quote shows us the point of view of one of the men on the ranch and his feelings toward her. It show how the men all think that she is trying to stray from Curley to one of them. Curley's wife has a dream to become and actress but it is crushed on two occasions. "A show came through, an' I met one of the actors.

' “ (Steinbeck 32). Curley 's Wife, innocent just like Crooks, is also judged and persecuted by others. She is not even given a name, which does not give her any dignity. Curly’s wife is always called out by the ranchers. Even after her own tragic death Curley 's Wife is still seen as the cause of trouble. Candy believes that Curley 's Wife is at fault. Candy lets his anger out on Curley 's Wife because he has more power than her, “ 'You God damn tramp, ' he said viciously. 'You done it di 'n 't you? I s 'pose you 're glad. Ever 'body knowed you 'd mess things up. You wasn 't no good. You ain 't no good now, you lousy tart. ' “ (Steinbeck 95). Candy calling out Curley 's Wife represents society treating her as a cast off. Curley 's Wife is lonely because she is the only woman on the ranch, however because of this, she is always being treated cruelly and without respect.

Chapter 4: “Crooks scowled, but Lennie 's disarming smile defeated him.”Come on in and set a while," Crooks said. " 'Long as you won 't get out and leave me alone, you might as well set down." His tone was a little more friendly” [223]

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

Candy sees Curley’s wife would show to be a challenge to everyone from the earliest moments, which he justifies his saying so pointing out the "glove fulla Vaseline". This showed the danger of her, as if her husband finds out how she tries to interact with other men in the ranch, his short temper would be sure to cause trouble, especially when Lennie is around with his uncontrollable strengths.

same chapter when Crooks bitterly tells Lennie, “Spose you couldn’t go into the bunkhouse and

However, when she notices George and Lennie, Curley's wife claims she is "lookin' for Curley". Inferring she is cautious and reserved towards George and Lennie.

The character of Curley’s Wife is very hard to unravel, as throughout the book, Steinbeck’s representation of women through characters such as George and Candy, is very harsh. This is because the sociological opinion at that time was that they were either, mothers, sisters, or prostitutes,