The Evolution of Curley's Wife in Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck

798 Words2 Pages

In the novel Of Mice and Men Steinbeck creates a character which is different from the rest of them, on which the reader might have a strong opinion about, differing from beginning to end. Curley´s wife switches from being classified as an antagonist of the novel, to just a fragile women with a hopeless dream. The first impression the reader get´s of Curley´s wife is definitely not a good one. She walks into the scene as if she owned the place, like a person who is confident of herself and well aware of their sexual appeal. The reader can identify that she is not afraid to use her sexual appeal as a weapon to her advantage. “Nobody can blame a person for looking.” She tells to Lennie as soon as she feels his look posed on her body. This is the first words she utters in her first encounter with Lennie. With judgment the reader can infer that she is a person fool of herself and self-centered. These thoughts later get confirmed when the workers call her a “tart”. The reader can now see how the workers behave around her and how they react to the thought of her. It´s not hard to quickly judge her and, like the workers, classify her as a tart and associated her with trouble. The fact that Curley´s wife has no name might have caught the reader’s attention which can lead the reader to think of her as an object not a live human being. The lack of a name takes away her individuality and her identity. This might make it harder for the reader from sympathizing with her. In this moment the reader´s judgment on Curly´s wife is definitely not a good one and it won´t get any better in chapter four. When all the workers go into town, she is left behind with Lennie, Candy and Crooks, but there is a specific reason. “They left the weak on... ... middle of paper ... ...The reader, and Lennie , were the only people that know the person she really was. In front of the readers eyes she died as a good person, but in the migrant workers eyes she died as a “tart”, which is a complete shame because if they only gave themselves the opportunity to sit down and talk to her, they would have a complete different opinion about her. All she needed was a friend and she could never have one because of Curly. She dies completely alone, and no one at the ranch feels sorry for her, not even her own husband, but there is one person that does. The reader. This is completely contradictory because the reader should feel relief that she is dead, her death would mean no more trouble for George and Lennie, but she did not deserve to pass the way. The reader regrets hating her all along because in the end she was extraordinary. Number of Words: 1,025

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