Of Mice and Men - character study of Curly's wife.

Of Mice and Men

The novel ‘ Of Mice and Men’ is set in America and is about two travelling workers who have been chased off one ranch because Lennie, one of the men did not know how to behave himself. Lennie is large, heavy and ponderous and George is small quick, dark, sharp and restless. Another tragedy happens on the ranch like in weed because Lennie used his strength to kill Curley’s wife. I can sympathise with Curley’s wife although she was a flirt with the other men she was not expecting to be killed by Lennie.

We first meet Curley’s wife in chapter two. She is described as heavily made up and wears tarty red shoes. She poses her figure outlined in the doorway of the bunkhouse and is always aware that men are looking at her. This makes me think that she is just looking for attention from the men. George shows the reader that he does not like Curleys wife because George tells Lennie that she is jailbait and for Lennie to stay away from her. Lennie see’s her as an attractive young lady but she is really just a threat to the men on the ranch.

In chapter three there is a big fight involving Curly and Lennie. Curley has not liked Lennie since he was looking at Curleys wife so Curley just lost his rag and started punching Lennie but then Lennie just reached for Curley and just grabbed his hand and started squeezing his hand and his hand crumbled in Lennies hand, George told Curley to tell everybody that he got his hand caught in the machine and that is what he told everyone. This just shows how Curley’s wife is acting like a tart and ...

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In chapter 4 Curleys wife was heavily made. I can sympathise with her because all she is trying to do is make some friends on the ranch but every time she tries to talk to someone they all think she is trying to flirt because she is desperate for attention because she has got an unhappy marriage with Curley and that the men think that she is trying to get them in trouble with Curley.I fell sorry for Curleys wife because on the ranch she was all alone.

In chapter 5 we learn that Curleys wife had a dream to be in the movies. I do feel sorry for Curley’s wife because she could have been in the movies but that was just a pipe dream because now she is stuck on the ranch married to Curley with no friends. Curley and his wife have only been married for two weeks and already they both hate it being together on the ranch. I think Steinbeck is trying to get across to the readers that she has no one in the whole world that cares for her. Her death was brutal and quick, at first lennie was just playing with the pup then he broke its neck and that is what he done to Curley’s wife. My final thoughts on Curleys wife is all she was trying to do is make friends on the ranch but she just got pushed out everyone.

In chapter six it is hard to feel sympathy for her because she was flirting with the men but she did not deserve to be killed by Lennie. I feel sympathy for Curley’s wife although she was a big flirt and she got treated badly by Curley, she did not deserve to be killed. I think Steinbeck included Curley’s wife in the story because I think that she makes the story interesting because she is the story.

Peer Reviews

Here's what a star student thought of this essay

sydneyhopcroft

9th of Sep 2012

Quality of writing

The Quality of Written Communication is below average for a GCSE candidate. Someone words are omitted, some punctuation points are omitted, although spelling is rarely an issue due to a non-challenging lexical choice. I would recommend the candidate re-reading their work after every paragraph to ensure maximum clarity in their written expression.

Level of analysis

The Level of Analysis is fair. It is broad and varied and deals with a number of characteristics pertaining to the character of Curley's wife. However some analysis, as before, is quite heavy-handed and often feel slightly sweeping. " I can sympathise with her because all she is trying to do is make some friends on the ranch" is all very well, but there needs to be evidence to support this and further explanation of why sympathy would be felt. "all she is trying to do is make some friends" is not a very analytical response and nowhere in this answer does it say anything about the oppression of women and the isolation she must've felt both geographically and emotionally, having only Curley to talk to (Curley distrusts her and she is bitterly married and very bored), hence she tries to seek excitement from the other men. I recommend re-reading the novel a making a more perceptive response due to how the candidate may feel if they empathised with her, rather than simply sympathised.

Response to question

The candidate here makes a fair response to the question. Although, the essay skills that could be shown by a GCSE student are no evident here. For instance, there are no quotes taken from the source text, despite there being plenty of opportunities to do so. Also, the candidate's grammar is imperfect and below the skills expected of GCSE student. These must be attended to before handing in the final assessment piece as these will lower the overall quality of the piece. I would also like to see more objectivity here. The candidate often voices their opinions but as before, they are not backed up by quotes. Also, so of the analysis is very heavy-handed. For instance "Lennie used his strength to kill Curley's wife" suggests that Lennie deliberately killed her as a result of "use" of his strength. It should be made clear, even to the examiner, that it was an accident as this example, combined with the frequent other moments where small details are omitted due to poor word choice, can give the impression the candidate does not fully understand the events of the novel, let alone to symbolic resonance of them.

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