Curley's Wife Victim Analysis

A victim; someone who is harmed by an event or action. Curley’s wife, a character often perceived as cruel, is really misunderstood. Throughout the story, her name is never mentioned, and while she tries to interact with the other characters, she is always pushed away and rejected. Her imitation of the cruelty she experiences is just a reflection of how she is treated by the people she tries to communicate with. The impulsiveness she exhibits while decision-making is a result of her need for attention, which only strengthens the more she is rejected and isolated. Communication is crucial to the survival and well-being of a human, and because of civilization, acknowledging somebody’s name is just basic respect. As a result of failing to acknowledge
She is often treated unkindly by the people she approaches and therefore reflects that behaviour. Right after George and Lennie first encounter her, George tells Lennie “‘ Well you keep away from her ‘cause she’s a rat-trap if I ever see one”’ By telling Lennie to stay away from her, George is ultimately enforcing the solitude that Curley’s wife lives in. While talking to Candy, Crooks and Lennie in Crooks’ room, she says “‘ Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever’ once in a while? Think I like to stick in that house alla time?’” (77). During the conversation, she reveals how lonely she is, yet right after she admits that she is lonely, Crooks says “‘Maybe you better go along to your own house now”’, rejecting her attempts at communication. Also during the conversation, she lashes out at Crooks saying ‘“ I could get you strung up on a tree so fast it ain’t even funny”’ (81). Her imitation of the cruelty shown towards her is not out of bitterness but rather the mind’s way of imitating others for a better chance of surviving, while the repeated rejection she experiences negatively affects her character and makes her more petulant or irritable. The fact that she is imitating the cruel habits is a sign