Immediately as you meet Curley’s wife, she is portrayed as a common tart. ‘ “she has the eye”... “a tart”’ are some of candy’s view which he refers to in chapter two. So, as soon as George and Lennie met he they thought of her in this way not knowing whether or not this portrayal was true or false.
Early in the novel, she appears to be a vindictive, disloyal person. In chapter 4 when she interrupts the conversation between Lennie, Candy and Crooks she states in a bitter tone ‘“Well, you keep your place then nigger. I could get u strung upon a tree so easy it aint even funny.”’ Showing this menace may have been a way for Curley’s wife to show authority as she is the bosses sons wife.
However, later in the book, her death is depicted very differently. She is to be seen lying with a half covering of yellow hay with all the emotions drawn from her face leaving a young, pretty, simple woman with no hate or anguish. She is shown as looking in a very light sleeping looking very much alive “Now her rouged cheeks and her reddened lips made her seem alive and lightly sleeping.” She is portrayed so innocently that it is as though the writer has every bit of sympathy for her.
So, despite the condemnation of Curly’s wife in chapters previously, in chapter five, Steinbeck appears to gradually sympathise with her. At first he makes her seem like an outcast by showing that nobody wants to talk to her but gradually she reveals her story to explain why she is in that situation to gain sympathy. The character of Curly’s wife dislikes her husband greatly, evidence of this is shown for this in her conversation with Lennie prior to her death when she says “I don’t like Curley, he aint a nice guy.” From this it is simple to see why she would go looking for other men at the ranch to
talk to. These genuinely innocent actions could be seen as her being unfaithful and that she “has the eye”.
Strinbecks own sympathetic thoughts for Curley’s wife are that having grown up in an atmosphere or fighting
and suspicion, she only had one thing to seel and she knew it. I think those feelings are strange considering that Curley’s wife is not prostitute, she is indeed lonely with a very forward personality.
The death of Curley’s wife is shown in two contradicting ways. Firstly, she is shown as innocent in death, and is condemned to death by telling the story of her life to Lennie, of how she has not fulfilled her live and feels it was a waste. However, many form a negative opinion of her due to threatening Crooks, acting like a `”tart” and not being greatful for what she has got so her death is not shown as the great tragedy that it is.
To conclude, I feel in life Steinbeck condemns Curley’s wife through her life, however in the lead up to her “murder” and in death the mood changes and dramatically sympathises with her by displaying the hardships of her life and showing how misunderstood it is. I feel Steineck could be seen as being sexist and unfair to her. However, it may be viewed as him trying to make a point about the sexist issues going on t the time to widen awareness to help improve the situation by showing that you will never really appreciate someone until they are dead.
