We first hear about Curley's wife when Candy describes her to George. He describes her using expressions such as "she got the eye" and "tart". Through Candy's words we develop an initial perception of Curley's wife as being flirtatious and even promiscuous. This perception is further emphasized by Curley's wife first appearance in the novel. Steinbeck appears to use light symbolically to show that she can be imposing when he writes "The rectangle of light was cut off". He describes her as having "full rouged lips and wide spaced eyes, heavily made up" as well as "Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages." This builds on our preconceptions of her being villainous and portrays a negative image of her. This makes readers perceive her as a seductive temptress who all the men at the ranch appear to avoid and see as trouble.
As we dwell further into the novel, it appears she is dissatisfied with her marriage to a brutish man and is constantly looking for excitement or trouble and she wanders around the ranch with the excuse that "she is looking for Curley". One aspect that makes us more sympathetic to her and draws us closer to her is the loneliness that consumes her life and her inhibition in finding companionship. When she barges in on Candy, Crook's and Lennie's conversation she expresses dissatisfaction for life and her
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