The Character Of Curley In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

“Curley slashed at Lennie with his left, and then smashed down his nose with a right. Lennie gave a cry of terror. Blood welled from his nose” (pg 63). In Of Mice and Men, Curley is at once an unpleasant, nasty character and fighter. Right away in the book his “glance was pugnacious and calculating” (pg 25), judging George and Lennie and making them feel very uncomfortable to the point where they want to leave. Through the character of Curley, Steinbeck, the author, shows readers evilness and the want to be a tough guy. Back then and now, people who get everything they want are cruel and evil when, like a little spoiled kid, they do not get what they want. That wannabe guy will also always try to prove himself to others and will want to show how tough he really is.

Curley tries to prove himself over and over again.

He marries a good looking wife and will fight anybody who messes around with her because he knows she is slooze. As a result of her being a slooze, Curley does not trust her and will not even let her go into town. Curley, to prove himself, likes to fight big guys as well, he is “like a lot of little guys. He hates big guys. He’s alla time picking scraps with big guys. Kind of like he’s mad at ‘em because he ain’t a big guy” (pg 26). Curley is just waiting to fight Lennie, and when Lennie started laughing, Curley’s “rage exploded… he slashed at Lennie with his right, and then smashed down his nose with a right…Curley slugged him in the face… and then he slashed at Lennie’s eyes” (pg 62-63). Just for laughing, Curley decided to beat him up which is truly evil. Luckily, Lennie beat Curley by crushing his hand. However, to save his reputation, Curley agrees to tell everybody he got his hand stuck in a machine. These events show the character Curley’s persistence on trying to prove himself to others. They also show that he is a wannabe tough guy because he will lie to save his reputation of being

tough.
In Curley’s lifetime, he has not had to work that hard. His dad owns the ranch, so he easily got a job on the it. He barely has to try hard at all to maintain his job, he “won’t ever get canned ‘cause his old man’s the boss” (pg 27), and if anybody talks back to him or gets in a dispute with him, they get canned. Curley is an evil guy who gets everything in his life handed to him. This is a problem because when he does not get something, he gets furious. He is a little guy and wants to be a big guy. Since he is not a big guy when he sees one, he gets mad and will want to fight him to prove he is superior. If Curley wins or loses the fight, the big guy will never win because “s'pose Curley jumps a big guy an' licks him. Ever'body says what a game guy Curley is. And s'pose he does the same thing and gets licked. Then ever'body says the big guy oughtta pick somebody his own size, and maybe they gang up on the big guy” (pg 26). Curley, like a pampered kid, always will try to get what he wants. He can not accept that he can’t have everything so he is evil to the people who have what he wants. Curley represents pure hatred.
Curley shows readers hatred and the want to prove himself. Curley is cruel and evil when he does not get what he wants. That wannabe guy inside of Curley will also always try to prove himself to others. He wants to show how tough he really is and will go to great lengths to keep his reputation. The hatred and evilness of Curley as a character is vital for readers to understand because he shows what not to be like in life.