Curley's Wife Victim Analysis
Curley’s Wife: Victim or Floozy?
Curley’s Wife is a character in the novel Of Mice and Men. She represents several themes in the novel, the American dream, loneliness and friendship. Her dream is to become a Hollywood actress but like most dreams it does not come true which has made her hard and mean. Curley, her husband, gives her no emotional support and treats her like a sex object rather than his wife which leads her to seek attention from other men and gives her a flirtatious air. She befriends Lennie because she feels that he still has his kindness about him and thinks of him as a ‘big baby’. She also refers to Candy, Crooks and Lennie as the ‘weak ones’ whilst she is talking to them and ‘liken it’ because there’s no one else. She plays …show more content…
The American dream is to achieve something in life but like most dreams it does not always come true. She believes that her dream almost came true when a fake movie director wanted to make a star. She blamed him not calling on her mother and so, believing that her dream was over, she married Curley. Her shattered dream links to the American dream theme in the novel because most of the characters had a dream that never came true. For George and Lennie it was to get enough money for a place of their own and once they arrived on the ranch Candy was added to the dream. Towards the end of the novel, Curley’s Wife reveals to Lennie her story because she feels he is different from the others; he still has his kindness about him, “Yeah, they get mean… I can see Lennie ain’t a bit mean”, and because he has shown a lot of interest in her. She also represents loneliness and her attention seeking is just a way to deal with her loneliness, it is almost like a learned reflex. Curley gives her no emotional support and instead just uses her as a sex object. “Well, that glove’s fulla Vaseline…Curley says he’s keepin’ that hand soft for his wife”. She is similar to the ‘bindle stiffs’ in a way that shows that she is one of the ‘weak ones’. She is misunderstood because everyone judges her on what they see “She had full, rouged lips…heavily made up. She wore a cotton house dress and red mules”. The colour red symbolises danger and is another hint at what is yet to come. Nobody talks to her to find out why she acts that way so they do not see the lonely woman that Steinbeck slowly reveals to the
Curley’s Wife is a character in the novel Of Mice and Men. She represents several themes in the novel, the American dream, loneliness and friendship. Her dream is to become a Hollywood actress but like most dreams it does not come true which has made her hard and mean. Curley, her husband, gives her no emotional support and treats her like a sex object rather than his wife which leads her to seek attention from other men and gives her a flirtatious air. She befriends Lennie because she feels that he still has his kindness about him and thinks of him as a ‘big baby’. She also refers to Candy, Crooks and Lennie as the ‘weak ones’ whilst she is talking to them and ‘liken it’ because there’s no one else. She plays …show more content…
The American dream is to achieve something in life but like most dreams it does not always come true. She believes that her dream almost came true when a fake movie director wanted to make a star. She blamed him not calling on her mother and so, believing that her dream was over, she married Curley. Her shattered dream links to the American dream theme in the novel because most of the characters had a dream that never came true. For George and Lennie it was to get enough money for a place of their own and once they arrived on the ranch Candy was added to the dream. Towards the end of the novel, Curley’s Wife reveals to Lennie her story because she feels he is different from the others; he still has his kindness about him, “Yeah, they get mean… I can see Lennie ain’t a bit mean”, and because he has shown a lot of interest in her. She also represents loneliness and her attention seeking is just a way to deal with her loneliness, it is almost like a learned reflex. Curley gives her no emotional support and instead just uses her as a sex object. “Well, that glove’s fulla Vaseline…Curley says he’s keepin’ that hand soft for his wife”. She is similar to the ‘bindle stiffs’ in a way that shows that she is one of the ‘weak ones’. She is misunderstood because everyone judges her on what they see “She had full, rouged lips…heavily made up. She wore a cotton house dress and red mules”. The colour red symbolises danger and is another hint at what is yet to come. Nobody talks to her to find out why she acts that way so they do not see the lonely woman that Steinbeck slowly reveals to the