Of Mice and Men

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Was Curley's Wife death due to her actions or Lennie's?

In this essay I will be discussing whether or not Curley's wife death was due to her actions or Lennie's? The characters are from the novel 'Of Mice and Men' written by John Steinbeck.

The first impression I receive about Curley's wife is that she's flirtatious women because the author describes her as "heavily made up." This suggests that she wants to look attractive around the ranch and, as she is surrounded by men, this seems to her and her limited intelligence, an easy way to gain attention. She is a temptress who is stranded and isolated in a male-dominated world and Lennie is definitely seduced by her looks and flirtatious charm.
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Steinbeck's skilful narration tells us that Curley's Wife provocative body language attracts attention to herself "She bridled a little". This implies she was teasing Lennie and flirting by using her body language. Does this mean that she was leading Lennie on? Perhaps, because later when Lennie sits with her she tells him, "I like machines". This shows that she likes Lennie because he crushed Curley's hand.

During the scene of Curley's Wife death, Lennie is all ready angry at himself because he killed his "pup". I feel this means that he could be frustrated and easily wound ...

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