How does Steinbeck present Curley as a villain in ‘Of Mice and Men’? Steinbeck presents Curley as the antagonist in this novel as he is cruel to his wife and also the ranch workers, he often gets into fights, especially with men that he feels threaten him, like Lennie, as they are taller than him and Curley also gets in the way of the other ranch workers dreams. However, Steinbeck doesn’t present Curley as a “traditional villain” in the novel as Curley doesn’t murder anyone or steal anything and in some respects he is also similar to many of the other characters, as his dreams are not going to come true either. Steinbeck presents Curley as sadistic, through the use of Curley’s actions. This quality can be shown in a quotation from the scene in which Curley starts a fight with Lennie, “Curley attacked his stomach and cut off his wind.” This quotation suggests that Curley enjoys that he is hurting Lennie.
Candy explains that he is ‘handy’, meaning he is a good boxer and has won prizes for boxing. George is worried and says to Lennie, ‘You gonna have trouble with that Curley guy. I seen that kind before. He was kinda feelin’ you out. He figures he’s got you scared and he’s gonna take a sock at you the first chance he gets.’ The big
His glance at once calculating and pugnacious.". He also uses words such as “lashed”, “tense” and “levelly” to mirror the characters personality and continue with this theme of aggression. Though his body language during this extract, Steinbeck also makes Curley seem restless and almost neurotic. He’s always looking for his father-“Seen my old man?”- itching for a fight- “hands closed into fist”- or making others feel nervous-“Lennie squirmed
Becomes more malicious and gains more power, controlling the group. The group largely follows Jack in casting off moral restraint and embracing violence and savagery(except Ralph,Piggy and Simon); influential Jack’s love of authority and violence are intimately connected, as both enable him to feel powerful. How Golding wanted to make Jack look: Golding had very clear intentions for Jack Merridew. From the first moment we see him, he comes across as a very dominant and angry child. The way he brings across "his" kids towards all the meetings and the way they are dressed make him seem as the leader or dictator.
In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the men on the ranch view symbolism in many different ways. The boss and Slim symbolize respect in different ways. The boss is described as: “On his head was a soiled brown Stetson hat, and he wore high-heeled boots and spurs to prove he was not a laboring man” (pp. 20). The boss only demands respect through how much money he has, and how he appears.
He is ignored by everyone on the ranch because he is black , this makes his character bitter and mean"Books ain't no good . A guy need somebody to be near him . "Crooks mainly keeps his distance between himself and the other men at the ranch to ensure he doesn't cause any problems . When Lennie approaches him in his bunk house his first reaction to him is fuelled by envy by his and Georges friendship .Crooks teases Lennie and makes out that George wont be coming back for him *quote*. He only does this to Lennie to show him what it like for him having nobody there and how he needs a companion , like Lennie and George ."
Lennie is mentally weak, George can’t reach his dream, and Curley resents being a smallish man and has napoleon complex. Weakness is simply a reality for everyone who lives on the ranch. On a ranch full of strong men, weakness is not really accepted, and people get criticized because of it. Because characters often know their weaknesses, they’re quick to try to cover for them, which spell confrontation. It’s a like bullying, characters weaknesses makes them feel insecure about themselves, so they fight and judge others to avoid having their flaws seen by
Of Mice and Men Quotes The Boss * Isolated by being the boss ‘not a labouring man’ this shows how he was above the ranch hands in authority and power but by being so is isolated from the others * The boss is symbolic of the racial discrimination present at that time ‘he give the stable buck hell…ya see the stable bucks a nigger’ this tells us how because of the ‘stable bucks’ colour the boss is more harsh towards him than the others. * The boss is a straight-to-business type of person. ‘You got your work slips?’ this shows that the boss is self-centred as he only cares for his business rather than the well-being of his workers. * The boss is suspicious and conscious of George and Lennie ‘Say-what you selling?’ this shows
The details in this passage add to our understanding of the character Curley, who is a small mean and seems to have developed an inferiority complex as a result. The alliteration of the derogatory language of “Ya big bastard” exemplifies this as Curley tries to overcompensate for his small stature by attempting to take on those bigger in size. The adjectives of how Curley is a “little guy” and how “he hates big guys” highlight the juxtaposition between Curley and Lennie. Furthermore, the imperative “Get up on your feet” portrays Curley’s keenness to provoke a fight with the weak in order to exert his authority, as unlike Slim who was described as the “prince of ranch” with a “natural air of authority”. However, in contrast to this, Slim wears “blue jeans and a short denim
I believe that Lennie cannot be held responsible for the decisions he makes because he doesn't understand the problems they cause at all. One prime example of Lennie's inability to make good decisions comes at the beginning of the book. He threatens to leave George alone since he is such a bother to him. On pg. 12 Lennie says, "I could go off in the hills there.