Of Mice and Men Curley's Wife

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Steinbeck uses character relationships to create an impression of the characters so that the reader can begin to imagine what they are like. Curley’s wife is seen to be a lowly, devious woman by the majority in the farm that will do anything and hurt anyone to make herself feel better. As she is a woman, at the time she is seen as an inferior to the male workers. She is married to the bosses’ son, Curley, and their relationship is a poor one.
We can see that Curley clearly treats her as a trophy wife as her name ‘Curley’s wife’ shows that she is practically his property and he owns her. As there are only men on the ranch, she is seen as an inferior being while all of her relations are troubled. Steinbeck has used this to portray that women have no place whatsoever on a ranch. The various characters throughout Of Mice and Men have numerous relationships with Curley’s wife. For example George states she is a ‘tramp’. Her relations with Curley are troubled and extremely scarce as they are never once seen with one another.
Steinbeck portrays many acts of Curley’s wife that significantly affect the reader’s relationship with her. Two prime examples would be when she enters Crook’s barn and shows a shear amount of prejudice to Crooks, Lennie and Candy. Secondly, towards the end of the novella, the readers see her as an innocent woman due to the way she ‘consoles’ Lennie. This improves our relationship with Curley’s wife because from her good deeds we can relate to this in modern day life as a quality that is looked fondly upon.
When we first witness Curley’s wife it is near to the beginning, but momentarily before Steinbeck uses symbolism to indicate her presence. It is significant that she enters towards the start, not long after George and Lennie have been talking about the dream. Also, when she enters ‘the sunlight was cut off’ in her presence; this immediately forms a

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