“She turned to him in scorn. ‘Listen, Nigger, she said. ‘You know what I can do to you if you open your trap?’” Crooks knows automatically what she means as Curley’s wife becomes very aggressive and extremely racist towards Crooks. Curley’s wife is shocked that he even spoke to her and Steinbeck projects this though using the word “scorn”. Curley’s wife has taken complete control of the situation by implying that she would get him lynched, this was typical of the time period the book is set in.
Steinbeck portrays Curley's wife at the beginning of the novel as a tramp, a tart that threatens to destroy any male on the ranch. However, her appearances later in the novel that show her to have a more vulnerable, humane side change that. For example, the scene when she confronts Lennie, Candy and Crooks in the stables (109-114) shows her from a completely different perspective. It suggests that she is not entirely malevolent and can be considered innocent, however ultimately she does bring about her own doom. Curley's wife is an insecure, misunderstood and lonely woman caught in a tragic situation.
She is a temptress who disturbs the fraternity of the men, for whenever she enters the bunkhouse, or at least stands in the doorway, preventing the men's passage, Curley's wife is a source of tension: The men worry that they will succumb to her physical allure; they worry that Curley will appear and become jealous and enraged against them. Once she has tempted Lennie, he sins and kills her--albeit accidentally. At any rate, the death of Curley's wife is the end of the "dream" for Lennie and George and Candy. There can be no Eden for them as George must kill Lennie before he is caught and his soul destroyed. With the death of the child-like Lennie, the innocent dream of having a ranch is also
Do her hateful actions against tom really show how “sweet” she is, or do her actions show an abused girl worn down by her fathers repulsive behavior.. An example of this is when Mayella lures tom into her house knowing it was wrong, “She grabbed me around the legs(.....) She reach'd up and kissed th' side of me face,”(Lee, 194) Mayella is a very deceptive person, she practically sets him up for this big scandal, then puts the blame on Tom, who is in fact the mockingbird. Mayella has been subjected to many horrific events and much sorrow but that does not excuse her for condemning a man. Further more Mayella weak testimony only further promote hate and anger in Maycomb, "I got somethin' to say an' then I ain't gonna say no more. That nigger yonder took advantage of me an' if you fine fancy gentlemen don't wanta do nothin' about it then you're all yellow stinkin' cowards, stinkin' cowards, the lot of you. Your fancy airs don't come to nothin' – your ma'amin' and Miss Mayellerin' don't come to nothin', Mr. Finch,"(Lee, 290).
But it isn’t just a role reversal in her behaving as a man might. Lady Macbeth is more indecent and conniving because she has maintained her manipulative feminisms which ironically diminish her husband, making him appear weak and without resolve. In the end when she finally confronts her own conscience to know how horrible she has been, the Lady collapses, disintegrates and disappears. How awful. Over and over and over again Lady Macbeth challenges her husband’s manhood and his will to kill and seize Duncan’s throne in Act I:
She would flirt with the ranch hands for her own fun and she stupidly tried the same with Lennie. She was racist and a bit of a "tart". You could also look at her sympathetically. She was the lonely wife of jealous husband. All she wanted is someone to talk to but all there was were the ranch hands who didn't want anything to do with her because they would get in trouble.
The only ones left are Crooks, Candy and Lennie. Curley’s wife comes looking for Curley and they treat her like an idiot ‘[You] think I don’t know where they all went? Even Curley, I know where they all went’ she says. We can see that she knows that they went to the whore house, even her newly married husband. This makes us sorry for her because Steinbeck portrays that Curley doesn’t care for their marriage he just carries on as if it doesn’t exist.
All she has to talk to is ‘nobody but Curley’. Her dreadful frustration at being like this is made obvious when she is speaking to Lennie in the barn. Steinbeck writes; ‘And then her words tumbled out in a passion of communication as though she hurried before her listener could be taken away.’ The word ‘tumbled’ is used to suggest how desperately she needs to talk to someone. The word ‘passion’ is used to suggest the strong powerful need that she has to communicate how she feels to Lennie and it also stresses her impulsive nature. So far in ‘Of Mice and Men’ Curley’s wife has been presented in a negative way, in section 5 Steinbeck shows another side of her which has compassion and caring
eDoes Steinbeck encourage the reader to see Curley’s wife as a victim or villain in section five of ‘Of Mice and Men’ Steinbeck has created a character in the book named ‘Curley’s wife’. In the book Curley’s wife does not have a name as it makes the reader feel that she doesn’t deserve one. Steinbeck portrays Curley’s wife as either victim or a villain. In section five of ‘Of Mice and Men’ Curley’s wife is at some points a villain. She takes advantage of Lennie.
Of Mice and Men Throughout the novel Of Mice and Men Steinbeck portrays Curley’s wife in a number of different ways. Curley’s wife is a glamorous, flirtatious, self-obsessed woman living on an all-male ranch. In some ways she has been portrayed fairly, as her cruel actions show that she deserves the judgements that are thrown at her. In other ways there is misogyny detected in Steinbecks depiction, as she is judged right from the start, before they know what she has to go through. You may view her as a sympathetic character, however all sympathy may be lost throughout the novel.