How Does Steinbeck Characterize Curley's Wife

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In the novella Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck characterizes Curley’s wife as manipulative through her dialogue. To begin, Curley’s flirtatious comments characterize her as manipulative. When Curley’s wife was looking for her husband, she notices Lennie looking at her and says, “Nobody can’t blame a person for lookin'” (31). Curley’s wife is seeking interaction from Candy, using her beauty and gender. She is married but being the only woman on the ranch makes her feel lonely, so she feels that the only way she can get attention is to use her own sexuality. Her flirtatious comments to Candy stand as an example of her manipulation, in an attempt to be recognized by these men and draw attention to herself. Furthermore, Curley’s wife's dialogue demonstrates her ability to manipulate someone by asserting power. …show more content…

Her grave threat is something that Crooks takes seriously. He knows that she does have the power to turn this threat into reality, and acts just as such. As a woman living in the 1920s, she typically doesn’t have much power, which is shown by the fact that Steinback chose to refer to her as Curley’s wife, but in this instance, she does have a higher social status and she chooses to abuse it. Curley’s wife quickly takes advantage of the racial hierarchy present at this time and puts Crooks in a vulnerable position in order to give herself more power. Moreover, Curley’s wife uses dialogue to manipulate Lennie. Curley’s wife found Lennie in the barn with the dead puppy. She began talking to him, telling him how lonely she was, asking, “How’d you like not to talk to anybody?” (87). Curley’s wife attempts to manipulate Lennie by asking him something that he can’t

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