Analysis of Curley's Wife in of Mice and Men

1359 Words6 Pages
Tori Findlen English 3° 4-23-13 Curley’s Wife Analysis What causes a girl to leave everything she knows to marry a man she has just met? Curley’s wife in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men knows exactly what the catalyst may be. In the novel, the two main characters are Lennie Small and George Milton. Lennie is a disabled man, so George is in charge of taking care of him. The novel starts when Lennie and George are on their way to a new ranch looking for jobs. When they arrive, they meet many new people including Curley, the boss’s son. They soon find out Curley has a wife, one that only brings trouble. As George and Lennie settle into their new life, they learn new things about everyone on the ranch. For instance, Curley’s wife is unhappy in her marriage to Curley, and is always looking for someone to talk to. Most of the ranch hands realize talking to Curley’s wife is a huge mistake, but because Lennie is mentally disabled, he does not grasp the seriousness of talking to her. One day, everyone is outside playing horseshoe. Curley’s wife goes to him for a conversation, and that is her fatal mistake. Lennie loves anything soft, so Curley’s wife lets him touch her hair. Curley’s wife starts to get angry, and when Lennie does not let go she starts to yell at him. Lennie becomes scared and tells her to be quiet. In desperation, Lennie accidentally shakes Curley’s wife a little too hard and breaks her neck. Curley’s wife loses her American dream because she is desperate to leave her mother and past behind, her marriage isolates her, and is she helpless when trying to make her own decisions in her new home. Curley’s wife abandoned her past when she decided to marry Curley and move to a ranch in Salinas, California. When Curley’s wife is first mentioned, she is trying to get attention from the boys on the ranch. As the plot thickens, more and more of her life story is
Open Document