Curley's Wife
The character of Curley’s Wife is one of the most significant characters in the book as she is linked to the key themes of loneliness and dreams, which ultimately leads to both her death and Lennie’s death. Steinbeck uses the character of Curley’s Wife as a microcosm for the prejudice that faced all women in 1930’s America.
Like most of the main characters in the novel, Curley’s wife is significantly related to the theme of dreams. Her role in this theme is slightly more important than others, however, because of her position as the only female character on the farm. The fact that she is the only woman makes her opinions and actions representative of all women living in the Great American Depression. “Coulda been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes- all them nice clothes like they wear. An’ I coulda sat in them big hotels, an’ had pitchers took of me.” Here, we see how Curley’s Wife, despite not having a name, has dreams and still relies on those dreams as a way of escaping the loneliness in the farm. Curley’s Wife is a stereotype of many other women in 1930’s America who turned to men as a result of failed dreams, and chose to take the easy route rather than be crushed by America’s cruel judgement of women. Curley’s Wife is very significant to the ending of the novel as her death is the downfall of George, Lennie and Candy’s united dream. Without this death, George, Lennie and Candy may still have gone on to live their shared dream, but because of it George had to kill Lennie. The significance of Curley’s Wife is ironically also shown threw the insignificance with which the workers in the novel treat her. Within her very first introduction, Steinbeck offers a glimpse of her role as the promiscuous troublemaker and the way in which the other characters respond to this. George, in particular, illustrates how others judge or misconceive her solely because of her gender; ”Jesus what a tramp, so that’s what Curley picks for a wife”. Here, Steinbeck uses George
Like most of the main characters in the novel, Curley’s wife is significantly related to the theme of dreams. Her role in this theme is slightly more important than others, however, because of her position as the only female character on the farm. The fact that she is the only woman makes her opinions and actions representative of all women living in the Great American Depression. “Coulda been in the movies, an’ had nice clothes- all them nice clothes like they wear. An’ I coulda sat in them big hotels, an’ had pitchers took of me.” Here, we see how Curley’s Wife, despite not having a name, has dreams and still relies on those dreams as a way of escaping the loneliness in the farm. Curley’s Wife is a stereotype of many other women in 1930’s America who turned to men as a result of failed dreams, and chose to take the easy route rather than be crushed by America’s cruel judgement of women. Curley’s Wife is very significant to the ending of the novel as her death is the downfall of George, Lennie and Candy’s united dream. Without this death, George, Lennie and Candy may still have gone on to live their shared dream, but because of it George had to kill Lennie. The significance of Curley’s Wife is ironically also shown threw the insignificance with which the workers in the novel treat her. Within her very first introduction, Steinbeck offers a glimpse of her role as the promiscuous troublemaker and the way in which the other characters respond to this. George, in particular, illustrates how others judge or misconceive her solely because of her gender; ”Jesus what a tramp, so that’s what Curley picks for a wife”. Here, Steinbeck uses George