Portrayal of Curley and Slim in Of Mice and Men

Curley is one of ‘Of Mice and Men’s’ major characters. Although he does not appear to hold a central role, he is very important in other respects. The first of these is the way in which he treats George and Lennie, and the ranch workers in general on the ranch. Curley is the boss’ son. Therefore he acts like he is the boss himself. He orders the others around, and, although it is true that he does hold some power on the ranch, he does not hold any respect from the workers. He is nasty towards them, treating as though they are them below him, and often trying to pick fights.

It is known fact that extreme gender roles can be psychologically harmful and Steinbeck’s character Curley is a testament to this. Society in the novel believed that men are supposed to be strong and tall however Curley is none of these. He feels so pressured by society to look and act a certain way and so he resents men who are taller and is always trying to fight people who he does not match up to. The patriarchal system led Curley to feel the need to display his dominance and resort to violence. Candy describes

We see in the quote how Curley is described as a “little guy”. Like anyone who would be treated that way, he responds negatively and even “picks scraps with big guys” on the ranch. Curley knows that he has power over the other men on the ranch because he is the boss’s son, so he can do whatever he wants to them without backlash. This makes his inferiority because of his size seem less

Curley’s wife is treated with very little respect because of the small amount of power she has, which depicts Steinbeck’s lesson that people with less power are treated differently and then go on to treat others unequally, as well. Curley’s wife has a flirty reputation and often goes to talk to the men on the ranch even though she knows she shouldn't be. Shortly after Lennie and George are first introduced to Curley’s wife, George remarks, “Gosh, she was purty.” George is shocked and fiercely tells Lennie, “Don't you even take a look at that bitch. I don't care what she says and what she does. I seen ‘em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her. You leave her be”(Steinbeck 32). Lennie’s initial reaction of Curley’s wife is not uncommon for the lack of intelligence he has. George’s fierce attitude toward Curley’s wife when he calls her

In his short book or novella Of Mice and Men, author John Steinbeck draws attention to migrant farm workers in the Depression era of the 1930s. Through his story he looks at human nature in the areas of men’s friendship, loneliness, and meanness or bullying. This essay looks at Steinbeck’s depiction of the tendency to bully others and that the tendency seems to come from their own weakness. This meanness is shown in the relationships of the characters. The bullying is physical, psychological, and emotional and nearly all of the characters demonstrate it, including George, Candy, Crooks, and Curley’s wife and it is contrasted to the unintentional violence of Lennie.

In this essay I am going to be assessing the character Curleys Wife from Steinbeck’s book Of Mice And Men. The book is set in the 1930s during the Great Depression it features two farm workers called George and Lennie. The travel around together in search of work sharing a dream of a place of their own, a small ranch where they can live and work for themselves. It tells the story of how violence may erupt to destroy those dreams. Curleys wife is a character in the book who from the brief encounters with her is presented in two ways. Firstly the dangerous, flirtatious character who isn’t trusted by the rest of the ranch workers but then later one we realize how she is just a victim

He has used this by using the quote '' The ache for attention were all gone from her face. She was very pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young.'' Steinbeck has described her as an angel who washed out her sins and went pure. In contrast to this Curley only cares about his social status. You can see this when ''Curley...ain't you better stay here with your wife''. Normally when your wife dies you would want to share your last moments together but the fact that Curley has to be reminded about his wife's death is upsetting since his main focus is killing Lennie. And it emphasises that he just used her as a possession due to the fact that it was a loveless marriage therefore he didn't really care much about her. In this quote you can also tell that all the bunkmates felt sorry for her even thought she acted with suspense because she didn't deserve more misery in her

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,

Throughout most of the book Curley’s wife strikes us as a compelling and riveting character as we initially see her as a wicked character till those few seconds before she dies where you think, hey she might not be so bad after all. In the novel ‘of Of mice Mice and men’ Men’ Curley’s wife’s image is portrayed as a very sexual, flirtatious, cheeky and desperate. Steinbeck uses specific words, sentences and techniques to create the image of Curley’s wife as one that is very contrasting.

Deep down inside, each person has a strong desire for a companion. Someone you can trust, who you can learn from and teach, but most importantly, one who can always be there for you no matter what happens. The relationship between the intelligent and feeble George Milton and the imbecile, but vigorous Lennie Small is displayed as the main objective in Steinbeck 's novel, Of Mice and Men. The description among these two characters is a form of juxtaposition because the two characters vary in several ways. The author’s intention of using this technique points out the differences between characters and how their personalities counteract each other significantly.

He has used this by using the quote '' The ache for attention were all gone from her face. She was very mo and simple, and her face was sweet and young.'' Steinbeck has described her as an angel who washed out her sins and went pure. In contrast to this Curley only cares about his social status. You can see this when ''Curley...ain't you better stay here with your wife''. Normally when your wife dies you would want to share your last moments together but the fact that Curley has to be reminded about his wife's death is upsetting since his main focus is killing Lennie. And it emphasises that he just used her as a possession due to the fact that it was a loveless marriage therefore he didn't really care much about her. In this quote you can also tell that all the bunkmates felt sorry for her even thought she acted with suspense because she didn't deserve more misery in her

John Steinbeck presents Curley’s wife at the start of the story as an irrelevant character because she has no relation with George and Lennie. At the start, Curley is one of the most important characters (besides George and Lennie) because he has the power to crush George and Lennie’s dream of having a farm of your own. But as the story goes on, to end, we see the importance of her character and that everything that has happened on the ranch is caused by her presence; even though she is not in the story as much as others, she has a long lasting effect on the other characters. She is mentioned in the story a lot because of how she would acted around the men working in the ranch. In the end, we knew Lennie and George were not going to get a

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.

One character in the story does not even have a name: Curley’s wife. Steinbeck illustrates her as someone who is a pawn of those around her. On the surface, she is reduced to a rude and selfish woman. But, if one looks deeper, Curley’s wife’s gender and class hinder her high aspirations and reduces her to ridicule. Her husband restricts her contact with others and does not show any affection towards her. She reveals this while

Curley’s wife does not really portray the character in the book. I believe that this has to do with the sound of each character which can change your opinion about a character like Lennie and Curley’s wife. Overall she acts more loving in the movie than what is shown in the book. Curley himself acts that same in the book and in the movie. He is still the same person that is mean and is always meant to everyone including his wife. Slim is also the same. In the book, he is very chill and calm. Same in the movie. In the movie, he is very chill. But in the movie, he does not seem more powerful at all than what was portrayed in the book. In the book, he is called the prince of the ranch, but in the movie, he is still powerful but it is not shown very