CURLEYS WIFE (NOT MINE)

8/13/2019 CURLEYS WIFE (NOT MINE)

1/14


2/14

We should feel sorry for Curleys wife because she is lonely. After

reading her conversation with Lennie. she went on with herstory quickly before she get interrupted ain't I got a right

to talk to nobodythis shows us that Curleys wife is trying to

explain to Lennie what her life is like before he disappears.

She wants to go through it without stopping because she really

wants to share it with him because hes the first person who

hasnt walked away from her, so she feels quite close to him.

This can also show us that she came and talked to Lennie

because she felt lonely and had no one to talk to her therefore we

can tell that her life must have been isolated because she had noone to talk to.

This also shows us that her husband must have been busy with

friends and he is more happy with friends rather than his wife

which means that she isnt truly loved by her husband because

he doesnt stay with her.

She is lonely


3/14

Steinbeck wants us to feel sorry for her at the end of thebook when she dies.

She was very pretty and simple, and her face wassweet and young

This shows us that she is seen as being sweet and

innocent in deathher natural beauty is allowed to shinethrough.

This highlights the fact that it was her negative lifeexperience that made her act in the way that she did. Thiscan also show us that Steinbeck wants the reader to go lon a rollercoaster (like her, hate her, like her) which makesthe book more interesting to read.

By using the words sweet and youngto describe her italso makes us feel sorry for her because it shows that she

is innocent and that she didnt really deserve to die.

She dies


4/14

Another time I met a guy, and he was in pictures, wentout to the Riverside Dance Palace with him, he says he

was gonna put me in the movies, soon as he got back to

Hollywood he was going to write to me about it.

This shows that she wanted to be an actress, but couldntfulfil her dreams as in America in 1930s women were not

treated equally and had no rights. They were seen as

below men and did not have a say in whats right and

wrong. This man used her and made promises to her thathe was never going to keep.

She wasnt treated fairly by men


5/14

Because he let her down and she didnt get what shewanted she married Curley who also treated her badly.

He didnt love her, didnt talk to her and it is implied that

he hit her too.

Her life really hasnt ended up the way she expected it to,which is another reason why we should feel sorry for her.

She wasnt treated fairly by men


6/14

Curleys Wife is the only female on the ranch and in thebook.Why cant I talk to you? I never get to talk toanybody, I get awful lonely. This shows us that she has

no female friends or any friends at all. She has no oneto share her problems/thoughts with and this could makeher feel isolated from the rest of the ranch.

This lack of someone to talk to drives her to go to Lennieand talk to him. When she does she realizes whos goodand bad. She finally confides in someone and the oneperson that she thinks she can trust/talk to is the personthat ends up killing her.. We should therefore feel sorryfor her.

She is the only woman on the ranch


7/14

Other reasons

She has no name; she is a possession. We should feelsorry for her because she doesnt exist in her own right.No-one sees her as a person and Steinbeck didnt wantthe reader to either; hence no name.

Shes stereotyped by everyone else as a sexual predatorand cant justify herself or her beahviour due to the factshes a woman and no one can see past this.

She died because she was enjoying having someone totalk to and someone to pay attention to her, whichmeans that no one wanted to listen to her or talk to her,which can make her feel rejected/depressed + nobodycares about her - therefore we should feel sorry for her.


8/14


9/14

Her behaviour is inappropriate

We should dislike her in the book because shebehaves inappropriately for a woman, a wife, ona ranch of men. She is always looking forsomeone to talk to when she should be at home

being Curleys wife. Her flirting with all the men often gets them in

trouble. She is a dangerous person and cancause problems for others. This is shown when

George says listen to me, you crazy bastarddont you even take a look at that bitch. I dontcare what she says and what she does. I seenem poison before.


10/14

Her behaviour is inappropriate

Her inappropriate flirting ultimately ends in herdeath. She lets Lennie feel her hair and thenshe screams and he breaks her neck becausehe didnt know his own strength. This caused

Lennie to be killed later on in the book whichbrings to an end George, Lennie and Candy'sdreamthis is Curleys Wifes fault.

She is quite promiscuous/flirtatious in her

behaviour, trying to make the men notice her.She stands against the doorframe and archesher body, so much that Lennie stares at her andgets told off by George. Considering she ismarried, she shouldnt behave like this.


11/14

Her dress is inappropriate

She dresses inappropriately for a woman on aranch. She should be in dungarees and wellyboots, but instead she is in a cotton dress, redmules with ostrich feathers. She is heavilymade up and wears red lipstick.


12/14

She is a mean person

In chapter 4 Curleys Wife shows how mean sheis when she picks on Crooks. When he tells her toleave his room, she tells him that she could gethim strung up so quick it aint even funny.

Threatening to get someone killed isnt very nice,especially when they havent done anything todeserve it. She is using her power of being awhite woman over Crooks but in a very mean way.

She blames her mum for the pitchers man nevercontacting her; even though it isnt her mumsfault and then moves out of home, leaving hermum alone.


13/14

She causes her own trouble

Everything that happens to Curleys Wife is because shebrings it on herself and she therefore doesnt deserve oursympathy.

The man that she meets at the Riverside Dance Palacenever contacts her and she blames it on her mum. The

next night she meets Curley and she marries him. This is arash and foolish action and one that is bound to go wrong.You dont marry someone you hardly know, and certainlynot to a) get back at your mum and b) if youre on therebound.

She knows that Lennie crushed her husbands hand andyet she invites him to stroke her hairdoh! She is askingfor trouble, especially when she knows he is simple andincredibly strong.


14/14

All the men on the ranch dislike her

and they cant all be wrong Curleys Wife is described by many of the men on the

ranch in a very negative way.

Looloo

Jailbait

Poison

Well I think Culeys married a tart

Shes got the eye. I seen her give Slim the eye.

The fact that they all describe her like thisand thatGeorge is instantly alarmed by her and tells Lennie to stay

away from hershows that she must be a character todislike because they cant all be wrong.

Steinbeck has also intentionally created her as a horriblecharacter because he doesnt say anything nice about heruntil after she has died. He wants the reader to dislike her.

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CURLEYS WIFE (NOT MINE)