Of Mice and Men: John Steinbeck
Task: Say what happens on each of the three times we Curley's wife and what we learn about her.
Curley's wife only appears three times throughout Of Mice and Men, even though she is a pivotal character in the story. The three times she appears are all small parts in the book, but are key scenes. They give us clues about her appearance, character and an insight into her life before she married Curley. The final time we see her is the vital scene where the plot comes together.
The first time we see Curley's wife is chapter 2, where she visits the bunkhouse. Curley's wife enters the bunkhouse where Lennie and George are unpacking and George is telling Lennie where to go if he gets into trouble. Curley's wife comes in looking for her husband; she stands in the doorway provocatively trying to get attention from Lennie and George. George ignores Curley's wife, knowing what she is trying to do, but Lennie is instantly besotted with her. After Curley's wife doesn't get very far with Lennie and George she turns her attention to Slim and leaves the bunkhouse.
This is only a short scene in the book, but we still learn a lot about Curley's wife. The fact that she is only ever referred to as Curley's wife suggests that she is only ever seen as the possession of Curley's and has no individuality of her own. We learn that she has full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her hair was hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages". The part about her hair could be taken as an insult about her appearance and that she has failed in making herself attractive. She is descried as wearing mainly red rouged lips, fingernails were red, red mules with little bouquets of red ostrich feathers" which could be interpreted as a colour of danger or a sexual colour which she uses to gain attention from the ranch hands. Curley's wife strives for attention; by always wearing a lot of make-up and bright clothing she gets the attention she craves so much. Because Curley's wife is the only woman on the ranch she has no other women to walk to or be friends with and is therefore seen as a sexual object by the ranch hands. She uses this sexual image the ranch hands have of her to gain attention. Her body language suggests that she flirts provocatively her body was thrown forward", showin her legs". Her voice was said to have a brittle quality, which could imply that she is as so brittle herself, easily broken or venerable. Because Curley's wife cannot escape from the sexual image that the other men have of her she uses it as a means of getting the attention she lacks. It is shown this scene that she doesn't have a good relationship with Curley, because even though she says she is looking for Curley, when she is told where he is she looks apprehensive and rushes back to the bunkhouse as if she would be in trouble if she were not there. Also in this scene shows us that she is lonely and wants someone to talk to because when George answers her brusquely she still stays there and tries to talk to them. After she has gone George speaks of her despairingly bitch", piece of jail bait" meaning that she has failed to impress him. This scene is like a prediction of what will happen later on in the story, before Curley wife comes into the bunkhouse George is telling Lennie where to go if he gets into trouble, then Curley's wife walks in. This could be an indication that she is or has something to do with what gets Lennie into trouble. Over all in this scene we find out that Curley's wife is lonely, pretty, flirty, frightened of her husband and is seen as a possession of Curley's.
Task: Say what happens on each of the three times we Curley's wife and what we learn about her.
Curley's wife only appears three times throughout Of Mice and Men, even though she is a pivotal character in the story. The three times she appears are all small parts in the book, but are key scenes. They give us clues about her appearance, character and an insight into her life before she married Curley. The final time we see her is the vital scene where the plot comes together.
The first time we see Curley's wife is chapter 2, where she visits the bunkhouse. Curley's wife enters the bunkhouse where Lennie and George are unpacking and George is telling Lennie where to go if he gets into trouble. Curley's wife comes in looking for her husband; she stands in the doorway provocatively trying to get attention from Lennie and George. George ignores Curley's wife, knowing what she is trying to do, but Lennie is instantly besotted with her. After Curley's wife doesn't get very far with Lennie and George she turns her attention to Slim and leaves the bunkhouse.
This is only a short scene in the book, but we still learn a lot about Curley's wife. The fact that she is only ever referred to as Curley's wife suggests that she is only ever seen as the possession of Curley's and has no individuality of her own. We learn that she has full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her hair was hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages". The part about her hair could be taken as an insult about her appearance and that she has failed in making herself attractive. She is descried as wearing mainly red rouged lips, fingernails were red, red mules with little bouquets of red ostrich feathers" which could be interpreted as a colour of danger or a sexual colour which she uses to gain attention from the ranch hands. Curley's wife strives for attention; by always wearing a lot of make-up and bright clothing she gets the attention she craves so much. Because Curley's wife is the only woman on the ranch she has no other women to walk to or be friends with and is therefore seen as a sexual object by the ranch hands. She uses this sexual image the ranch hands have of her to gain attention. Her body language suggests that she flirts provocatively her body was thrown forward", showin her legs". Her voice was said to have a brittle quality, which could imply that she is as so brittle herself, easily broken or venerable. Because Curley's wife cannot escape from the sexual image that the other men have of her she uses it as a means of getting the attention she lacks. It is shown this scene that she doesn't have a good relationship with Curley, because even though she says she is looking for Curley, when she is told where he is she looks apprehensive and rushes back to the bunkhouse as if she would be in trouble if she were not there. Also in this scene shows us that she is lonely and wants someone to talk to because when George answers her brusquely she still stays there and tries to talk to them. After she has gone George speaks of her despairingly bitch", piece of jail bait" meaning that she has failed to impress him. This scene is like a prediction of what will happen later on in the story, before Curley wife comes into the bunkhouse George is telling Lennie where to go if he gets into trouble, then Curley's wife walks in. This could be an indication that she is or has something to do with what gets Lennie into trouble. Over all in this scene we find out that Curley's wife is lonely, pretty, flirty, frightened of her husband and is seen as a possession of Curley's.
