What Is The Relationship Between Curley's Wife In Of Mice And Men

In his novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck narrates the story of two travelers, Lennie and George, who find work on a ranch in California. The two meet several characters on the ranch, including Candy, an old and crippled man; Curley’s wife, the only woman on the ranch; and Crooks, a crippled African American worker on the ranch. In chapter four of Steinbeck’s novel, Lennie, Candy, and Curley’s wife gather in Crooks's room to seek companionship, referring to each other through insults and treating each other through intimidation. They do this due to their personal insecurities and desires to belittle others to feel better about themselves.
While Lennie, Candy, and Curley’s wife all venture into Crooks's room for their specific reasons,

they share the same general purpose of seeking companionship. Lennie is the first to arrive. Naive to the existence of racial discrimination, he “smiled … in an attempt to make friends.” He explains to Crooks that he came to his room because he had “seen your light.” (68) Lennie feels lonely because George, his constant companion, left town without him, afraid that Lennie would cause trouble. Lennie meets Crooks to address his loneliness and to find someone who could be his companion while George was gone. Pretending to be angry for intruding into his personal space, Crooks initially rejects Lennie’s offer of friendship. However, Lennie’s “disarming smile” (69) eventually defeats him, compelling him to reveal his desperation for companionship. He explains to Lennie that “nobody … but Slim an’ the boss” (75) had talked with him ever since he started living on the ranch. Because of this, he is extremely happy to see more people venturing into his room; however, he tries to hide his true feelings behind anger because Lennie, Candy, and Curley’s wife are not allowed to enter his room by the laws of the ranch. When Candy arrives at Crooks's door, he explains that he is looking for Lennie. He is searching for companionship since he is usually alone because of his age and physical limitations. Curley’s wife is the last to arrive, claiming to be searching for her husband. She is quickly exposed for lying when Candy asks, “if you know, why you want to ast us where Curley went?” With no reason to lie further, Curley’s wife admits that she doesn’t “like to stick in that house alla time” and would “like to talk to somebody ever’ once in a while.” As indicated by how she is referred to throughout the book, Curley’s wife is regarded as the property of her husband, who she strongly dislikes. Curley frequently asks her to stay in the house, where she can only listen to him talk about his plans to fight people. While Lennie, Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s wife are no longer alone, they certainly do not attain the companionship they initially sought as a result of their conflicts with each other.
Once Lennie, Candy, and Curley’s wife join Crooks in his room, they begin to insult each other because of their personal insecurities and desires to feel superior to each other.

When Lennie starts a conversation with Crooks about buying his own land, Crooks calls him “nuts” and “crazy as a wedge.” (69) Crooks knows that a ranch hand buying his own land is impractical, so he uses this information to feel superior to Lennie in intelligence. However, he also realizes that he is the least physically able to buy land out of anyone on the ranch, so he insults himself by calling himself “crippled.” (76) Crooks lacks confidence in his ability to buy his own land because of his physical disability, showing that he is mentally insecure. Furthermore, Candy insults Curley's wife by calling her a “bitch,” (82) highlighting how she spends most of her time away from her husband. Mainly, Candy insults Curley’s wife because he is angered by how she disregards his dream of buying his own land. With his age and physical limitations, he sees this land as an ideal place to spend the last moments of his life. Finally, Curley’s wife is furious at Lennie and Candy because they refuse to talk to her. She has little fun “talking to a bunch of bindle stiffs … a nigger, and an’ a dum-dum and a lousy ol’ sheep.” (78) However, she has no other choice because her husband is always busy talking about the people he is going to fight instead of what matters to her. The other people on the ranch see her

as part of Curley’s property, making her obligated to stay with Curley most of the time. As a result, Curley’s wife feels rejected from society and socially insecure. As a result of their selfish desires to feel superior to their coworkers and personal insecurities, Lennie, Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s wife refer to each other through name-calling.
As time passes, the four characters shift from using insults to using threats.

Lennie, Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s wife threaten each other whenever they feel their mental security is being threatened. For example, when Crooks supposes to Lennie that George might not come back, Lennie responds by “walking dangerously” (72) toward him, threatening to physically harm him. As Lennie approaches him, Crooks decides that he will be unable to defend himself, so he ascribes his statements concerning George to himself. However, this scene shows that Lennie completely depends on George to survive. When Crooks questions Lennie, his questions instill doubt in Lennie and cause him to feel mentally insecure. Finally, Curley’s wife also physically threatens Crooks by saying that she “could get you strung up on a tree.” (80) She sees herself as superior to Crooks because of his race, thinking that this gives her the right to do whatever she wishes to Crooks. By using threats to protect their mental security, Lennie, Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s wife all fail to gain the companionship they

seek.
John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men describes the lives of four major characters in their quests for companionship. While each of the four characters has a personal reason for being alone, they share a common goal: to avoid loneliness and gain the companionship of others. While they successfully avoid loneliness, Lennie, Crooks, Candy, and Curley’s wife all fail to establish companionship because they are unable to put aside personal differences, such as race and gender. Had the four characters ignored these unimportant differences, they would be able to establish long-lasting friendships with one another, giving them an environment where they feel less insecure. In addition, their desires to put down others outlives their desires to make friends and overcome their loneliness. Unfortunately, this allows them to continue their insecure lives and repeatedly drown in their loneliness.