Curly’s wife is trapped as she is the only women on the ranch. Steinbeck gives us a negative image of her before we even meet her. This shows us she is not welcome at the ranch. This is reinforced idea when candy tells us she is a “tart”. Curly’s wife is also trapped in loneliness. This is shown in the quote “I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely”
Curly’s wife responds to being trapped in many ways some of the ways are:-
• Trying to make friends
• Flirting with other men on the ranch
• Threatening crooks and candy with the little power she has
Another character that is trapped is candy, he is trapped because he is old and only has one hand. This means he is unable to move to another ranch. Candy is also expecting to get “canned” soon this means he will have no were to go. We know he has no family from the quote “I don’t have no relatives nor nothing”. This suggests he is lonely.
Candy reacts to being lonely by having a strong relationship with his dog. When his dog is shot he is clearly upset. He now responds by joining in with George and Lennies dream of owning the farm. We know he has comfort in the dream and his new friends when he tells crooks “we gonna do it … me Lennie and George”
One more character who is trapped is curly as he none like him due to his aggressive character this means he has no friends. He reacts to this by using violence, but only to those he thinks he can beat. This is shown when he has a fight with Lennie. We are also told “Curley’s like a lot of
little guys. Kind of like he's made at em' because he ain't a big guy.
You seen little guys like that, ain't you?”. This shows he is prepared to fight people even if they are bigger then him.
Crooks, stable-buck, is another lonely character at the ranch. The boss is the main cause of Crook's loneliness. Because of his colour, Crooks must live by himself in a small room in the barn. Crooks become so accustomed to this isolation, this makes him suspicious of anyone who tries to make friends with him.
Crooks is the only man on the ranch who reads, hoping it will help him pass his lonely hours. Unlike Lennie, Crooks has no dreams for the future, which gives him the feeling that he is trapped on the lonely ranch for the rest of his life.
