Her hopes to be in "pitchers" are similar to the men on this ranch, who also have their own dreams. She represents what it means to fail and how painful it is for someone to live with this. Her last conversation with Lennie is a part of the novella where we sympathise with her as a reader and realise we all have our own dreams too. It makes sense that this would be the instant that ends up killing her, a reminder that the pain of failed dreams can be a form of death in its own way. This is also the main part of the novella as it leads to Lennies death which was previously foreshadowed by the death of Candy’s dog.
Steinbeck elicits contradictory feelings in the reader: sympathy for the recently murdered woman as well as sympathy for his murderer. Steinbeck achieves this through using contrasting imagery, portraying Lennie with animal traits, and presenting Curley’s wife’s death as a release from her misery. Steinbeck provides conflict with texture, light, and sound to assist the reader’s emotional quarrel. The feel of Curley’s Wife’s soft hair put side by side to the rough old and brown of the ranch displays many of the differences. Steinbeck has subliminally mentioned isolation and conflict that Curley’s wife’s creates with her soft hair; here it is quiet apparent, “Feel right aroun’ there an’ see how soft it is.” (Steinbeck 90).
Steinbeck uses Curley's wife's character to depict the inferiority of women. He also uses her to inform the reader of the dire range of choices for women of that era. Steinbeck creates the character of Curley's wife to show the reader that life as a house wife is dull and repetitive. He does that by making Curley's wife not fit into the expected mould of a married house wife. She is a lonely character constantly searching for attention, even if it is from ranch workers, cripples and the coloured.
Women in the 1930’s were seen by men as scheming and devious. John Steinbeck perceived Curley’s wife as this woman that causes trouble on the farm, which is the cause for the Lennie’s ultimate end. However, we can see at the end of the novel that Curley’s wife is not just this “troublemaker” which the men perceive her as. She opens herself up to Lennie and shares her dreams in life. It shows that she too, like the men on the farm, has dreams too.
Steinbeck presents Curley’s Wife in different perspectives. The sympathy which she attracts is immense. She explains that she ‘gets lonely’ and ‘I get awful lonely’. The use of repetition emphasises her isolation and frustration at her not being able to talk to ‘nobody but Curley’ and this frustration continually surfaces as she speaks to Lennie. “And her words tumbled out in a passion of communication as though she hurried before the listener could be taken away”.
This is shown by her actions and speech. Curley’s wife is lonely because of the way she acts, what she says, and who she talks about. One way that shows that Curley’s wife is lonely is because she acts very flirtatious. For example, right after George and Lennie arrived at the ranch she went into the barn and asked if anyone had seen Curley. “Oh!” She put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward.
Steinbeck presents the character of Curley’s wife to be attractive, flirtatious and vulnerable and she is a very complex character. On the one hand, Steinbeck is making the reader feel sympathy for her, however, on the other hand she is shown to be provocative and enticing to the men on the ranch. She represents the women back in the 1930s who weren’t seen as independent women but were seen as an extension of their husbands rather than being independent and the loneliness that came from the jealousy and distrust towards young women at the time. The first time you hear about Curley’s wife is when candy describes her to George. Candy uses expression such as “she got the eye” and goes on to describe her as looking at other men because of this they call her a “tart”.
She is a threat to those around her. The next time that Curley’s wife appears the reader begins to see a different side of her. We begin to infer that CW just wants the companionship and attention that her relationship with Curley lacks. We get a sense that CW is lonely and is very isolated from the rest of the men on the ranch. She says “Think I don’t like to talk to somebody ever once in a while?”, page 85, from this we can see CW doesn’t
EXAMINE THE WAY STEINBECK PRESENTS THE CHARACTER OF CURLEYS WIFE. Steinbeck presents the character of curleys wife to be attractive, flirtatious and vulnerable and she is a very complex character. On the one hand, Steinbeck is making the reader feel sympathy for her, however, on the other hand she is shown to be provocative and enticing to the men on the ranch. She represents the women back in the 1930s who weren’t seen as independent women but were seen as an extension of their husbands rather than being independent. Steinbeck uses many different techniques to present Curley's wife such as colour imagery, appearance, metaphors and similes in the early stages of the novel.
In another sense Steinbeck highlights the danger in her appearance. There are hints of warning and danger from the red themed clothing and make-up she wears: “red ostrich feathers”, “rouged lips” and her fingernails “red”. Steinbeck uses this technique to hint to the reader that she has the make up of a dangerous and a character that is feared. Another way Steinbeck signals danger with Curley’s wife is how he almost tells the reader that trouble is coming. He does this as George tells Lennie to “hide in the brush” if there is any trouble; as soon as Steinbeck uses this he introduces Curley’s wife into the novella.