In the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ Steinbeck describes Curley’s Wife as “heavily made up…she had full rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes and her hair rolled up in little clusters” whilst Trollope describes Mally as “Wild-looking, almost unearthly creature with wild-flowing black uncombed hair”. This suggests to the reader that Mally never “exercises any of those feminine attractions” whereas Curley’s Wife made the effort to dress up even though the clothes she wears might not be suitable for working on the ranch. Curley’s Wife is described ad “heavily made up” this may be because she is insecure with herself, whereas Mally is described as having a lot of confidence because she doesn’t care what people think about her appearance.
In ‘Of Mice and Men’ Steinbeck describes Curley’s Wife as an attention seeker “she stood still in the doorway smiling a little… rubbing the nails of
one hand, with the thumb and forefinger of the other. And her eyes travelled from one face to another” whilst Mally is described as a “fierce and ill-natured, that she had not a good word for anyone and that she was complete at all points, a though little vixen”. Curley’s Wife just looks for attention by dressing up and flirting with all the men on the ranch whereas Mally just gets the attention by her attitude and ill-natured personality.
In ‘Of Mice and Men’ Steinbeck describes Curley’s Wife as dependent on Curley whilst Mally has been “hunting seaweed in that cove since she had been an urchin of six years old”. This possibly suggests to the reader that Mally is a hard working girl whereas Curley’s Wife is financially dependent on Curley. Steinbeck and Trollope both describe the characters to be either uncertain about themselves or to be overconfident about their attitude.
I think that Steinbeck and Trollope both describe Curley’s Wife and Mally as having a strong character. Curley’s Wife has a strong character because she doesn’t care about what people say about the way she dresses and how flirtatious she is. Nevertheless Mally never “seemed to care not at all to exercise any of those feminine attractions which she might have been hers had she studied to attain them”. I think that Mally only does what she wants to do whereas Curley’s Wife is always being told what to do by Curley. I think that Mally’s strong character links back to having “few acquaintances among people of her own age” which I think changed her whole life and her attitude. Alternatively I think that Curley’s Wife has a strong character because Curley is never around and she gets bored so she has a little fun by flirting with all the men on the ranch, which gets the attention that she is looking for.
In the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ Curley’s Wife seems to be lonely because she is the only woman on the ranch and that she is not allowed to go out. I think that the pressure that is put on Curley’s Wife has led her flirtatious personality to get attention that she doesn’t get from Curley. Whereas in ‘Malachi’s Cove’ Mally also seems to be lonely because has no friends of her own age and all that she has is her grandfather, who she provides income for.
In the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ Curley’s wife shows her true feelings about Curley “spends all his time sayin what hes gonna do to guys he don’t like, and he don’t like nobody. Think I’m gonna stay in that two-by-four house and listen how Curley’s gonna lead with his left twice, and then bring in the ol right cross”. This quotation suggests that Curley’s wife is fed up with Curley and she is fed up about being left alone at home all the time will Curley goes out.
Whereas Mally from ‘Malachi’s Cove’ starts to show her true feelings under the fierce personality, when the incident with Barty happened she shows that she does care for others “had he been her brother, her lover, her father, she could not have clung to him with more of the energy of despair”. This quotation states that she is a human being and that she saved Barty no matter what they had been through. I think that Curley’s Wife and Mally both show their true colours.
In conclusion I think that Curley’s Wife and Mally are to completely different characters with totally different personality but as the novel progresses you get to know the characters and you get to know the real Curley’s Wife and the real Mally e.g. when Curley’s wife died “the meanness and the plannings and the discontent and the ache for attention were all gone from her face. She was very, pretty and simple, and her face was sweet and young” whilst Mally ended up marrying Barty “how beautiful he was in Mally’s eyes with that pale face”. I think that Steinbeck and Trollope have made the characters this way because it makes the reader think and then feel all sorry for them at the end. So in conclusion my opinion of Curley’s Wife and Mally both change as the story progresses because both Steinbeck and Trollope keep the reader in suspense and makes both characters come to life.