The loneliness felt by Curley’s Wife is a key talking point in the novel. Curley's wife is perhaps the loneliest person of all on the ranch. The fact that she is the only woman on the ranch, keeps her separated from the other men during a time where people saw differences between men and women. Curley, her own husband, ignores her, he does not regard his wife as a person needing love and companionship, but rather as an object which can be put aside, “I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely” is a line which is repeated time and time again, but in different ways. It vibrantly shows how lonely she feels. Curley's wife's loneliness finally becomes so rigorous that she resorts to fantasizing herself as a famous actress just to feel wanted and more conventional with others. Finally, despite being provided with a high overall status she is not respected. This results in the reader feeling sympathetic and compassionate towards her.
Steinbeck uses foreshadowing to generate influential suspense for the reader. George noticeably states, in the beginning of the novel, that Lennie is always getting into mishaps. “You do bad things and I got to get you out.” Linking back to the opening scenes of the novel, the predicament in Weed, which forced both George and Lennie to escape, involved both a girl and Lennie. Taking into account that Curley’s Wife is the only woman on the ranch and connecting ends with ends, there is a dramatic and powerful sense of insecurity between these two people. Subsequently, there is an insinuation that Curley’s Wife was going to die by the hands of Lennie. This is for the reason that, Lennie (earlier on in the novel) killed both a mouse and a puppy, which could only be imply that a greater death shall happen.
Steinbeck demonstrates Curley’s Wife as ‘unwanted’ when it comes to relationships. Curley’s Wife shares an unenthusiastic and loveless relationship with her husband. ”You seen that glove on his left hand? Well, that glove's fulla Vaseline, Curley says he's keepin' that hand soft for his wife” is a primary example of this. This quote personifies the fact that Curley only wants a sexual relationship with his wife, and uses her for intimate means only. Additionally, Curley’s Wife is not highly admired among the ranch workers. ‘Tart’ and ‘Jailbait’ are just two of the many words used by the ranch workers to describe Curley’s Wife. This means that they perceive her as trouble and they try to keep away from her.
One of the most important relations anybody has is one with their own mother. Curley’s wife shares quite an unpleasant relationship with her mother. This words “I always thought my ol’ lady stole it”, are a vivid example of how Curley’s Wife had her dream to become an actress, overseen by her mother.
The relationship between Curley’s Wife and George is quite similar to Curley’s Wife’s relationship with the other ranch workers. As soon as George sees Curley’s Wife for the first time, he straight away turns to Lennie and coldly says "Jesus, what a tramp." These words concisely and efficiently explain the initial thoughts felt by George upon first look at Curley’s Wife. When George tells Lennie off for calling her “purty” he also illustrates his thoughts in a more influential way with the words; “Don't you even take a look at that bitch. I don't care what she says and what she does. I seen 'em poison before.” The words “bitch” and “poison”, clarify that George despises Curley’s Wife, probably more than anyone else on the ranch.
Curley’s Wife and Crooks are two dissimilar yet comparable characters. They are comparable because both are isolated from other people, albeit for different reasons. Crooks is left isolated from fellow ranch workers due to racial differences, same for Curley’s Wife but because she is s woman. However, the portrayal of Crooks shows that he is an understanding and composed person, completely different to Curley’s Wife. The differences between these characters prove to be greater than first expected when Curley’s Wife tells Crooks - “Well, you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung upon a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.” These words indicate that Curley’s Wife is also in favour of using Crooks’ skin colour against him.
Like the relationships shared by Curley’s Wife, with other ranch members, her relationship with Candy is not an appealing one. Having said this, both of these characters can once again relate to each other, through a sense of lonesomeness. Curley’s Wife and Candy definitely despise each other and this is visible through words such as “that bitch” and “you god damn tramp”, used by Candy, when talking about Curley’s Wife.
John Steinbeck shows a key connection in the relationship between Curley’s Wife and Lennie. Curley's wife is a lot like Lennie in numerous ways; both are alone, controlled by those around them, not trusted because of what they are like and have dreams that they really wants to come true. We feel sorry for them because we can see that they desperately want to try and break free from the life they are caught up in, but George keeps Lennie behind, and Curley keeps his wife behind. They end up confiding in each other as the novel comes to an end. “Well, I ain’t told this to nobody before. Maybe I oughten to...” When Curley’s Wife’s she says these words to Lennie in the barn, the reader realises that this is the first time Curley’s Wife has opened up to anyone. This results in the reader thinking that Curley’s Wife trusts Lennie.
In conclusion, my opinion is that Curley’s Wife does seek attention; however this is only because she has been dispossessed of attention throughout her life. Her unwilling marriage to Curley, the fact that she could not accomplish her dream and her having a lack of friends and reverence made me feel regretful about my first impression of her. Steinbeck presents Curley’s Wife in an apathetic way which robustly influences the reader’s image of her. Nevertheless, as the novel reaches its end this negative feeling received by the reader soon changes into that of commiseration. Steinbeck has created a character for us to feel sympathetic towards.
