Curley’s Wife is given no identity; she is never referred to by a name other than Curley’s wife. This is typical of 1930’s America as she as viewed as a man’s possession and holds no regard in society. The man that she ‘belongs’ to is Curley. This is a man who is fuelled by hate and anger and shows no loving or passionate side. ‘You seen that glove on his left hand?’ ‘Well that’s full of Vaseline’ ‘Curley says he’s keeping that hand soft for his wife’ these are thing said by Candy that summarise the way that Curley’s wife is treated and viewed by her husband.
Looking beyond the surface the reader quickly realises that Curley’s wife has many dimensions to her. The reader quickly experiences some of these complex dimensions, her first dialogue in the book expresses this, she first speaks in a pleasant way “stable buck – ohh, stable buck!” which the changes to a very harsh and hurtful manor “where the hell is that God damn nigger?” The reader also experiences these layers in chapter five where she tells Lennie about her dreams. Steinbeck describes her speech as ‘a passion of communication’ and that ‘she hurried before her listener could be taken away. Dreams are a key theme in ‘Of Mice And Men’. Curley’s wife obviously feels passionate about her dreams and somewhat holds Curley to blame for her not achieving her dreams.
Having studied ‘Of Mice And Men’ many conclusions can be drawn as to where lies the blame for the tragedies of the novel. These tragedies include the death of Curley’s wife and Lennie as well as the breakdown of a friendship and marriage. As a result of these tragedies the dreams of Candy, George, Lennie and Curley’s wife are all shattered.
Curley’s wife is a key character when it comes to blame. One of the largest tragedies of the novel is her own death. It comes as a result of Lennie breaking her neck after she invited him to stroke her hair. She knew how strong and powerful Lennie was as he broke her husband’s hand and he told her about how he stroked the puppy to death. She clearly realises that Lennie is retarded as well as she refers to him as ‘nuts’.Her provocative nature and search for attention leads people into situations that could end up fatal (as it does for both her and Lennie)
The pursuit of the dream of the ranch could also be considered as an aspect contributing to the tragedies as it leads Lennie into an awkward situation. In the barn when Lennie is stroking Curley’s Wife hair. She tells him he is doing it too hard and she pleads with him to stop but because Lennie didn’t want George to know about it, Lennie begs ‘Oh! Please don’t do none of that, George gonna’ say I done a bad thing, he aint gonna’ let me tend no rabbits.’ This supports the argument that the dream is to blame because it shows that Lennie only killed Curley’s Wife to try and save the dream. This also supports the argument that George is to blame because he and Lennie are chasing an unrealistic dream as they have been trying for years but still haven’t managed it.
George could be held responsible for some of the tragedies as he could have prevented them from happening. For example in chapter one George shows Lennie a place of refuge ‘the brush’ and he knows how strong and powerful Lennie is as he knew that Lennie pet the mice until he killed them.
Lennie is mentally retarded and relies heavily on George but George allows this to happen he doesn’t allow any chance to become more independent. When George gets annoyed at Lennie because Lennie wants ketchup, Lennie offers to go off and get a cave but George replies remorsefully “no-look! I was jus’ foolin’ Lennie. ‘Cause I want you to stay with me.’ This shows that because of the lonely life men on a ranches lived George wanted to stay with Lennie even though he knew Lennie would cause him trouble.
The first time George meets Curley’s Wife he calls her ‘jail bait’ and says ‘she’s gonna’ make a mess. They’re gonna’ be a bad mess about her.’ This shows that George Clearly see’s that Curley’s Wife will be a source of trouble but still persists at the ranch because he feels he needs the money to achieve the dream that he and Lennie have.
In my opinion no one person could be held responsible for all of the tragedies, they came as a result of numerous factors. Curley’s wife, Ranch life, 1930’s America and many other things all contributed to the tragedies of the novel but I believe that George played the biggest part as although he is not a direct link to the tragedies he could of prevented them. He knows what Lennie is like but still lets him be in that environment. Is George a committed friend or just plain greedy?
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Jordan Francis Rogers Prose Essay 10L/1
