Of Mice and Men- Curley's Wife

Of Mice and Men is a novel that has withstood the test of time because it deals with basic human instincts and the lives of ordinary people, with ordinary dreams. One such character is that of a lonely, isolated woman; Curley’s wife.

In the second chapter, we the readers are introduced to her through the opinions of Candy. Candy talks about her being ‘jailbait’, ‘tart’ and says ‘she got the eye’. Through Candy's words, we develop an initial perception of Curley's Wife as flirtatious and even promiscuous. Steinbeck uses the word ‘jailbait’ as one of the first things we are told about her because it portrays an image of a young girl who wants all the attention, all the men look at her because she makes an entrance and can easily tempt the workers. The use of ‘tart’ and the saying ‘she got the eye’ makes us as readers believe that even though she has a husband she is not the wife material therefore she is somewhere between a prostitute and a wife.

Steinbeck presents her as a very isolated character that relies on her flirtatious nature to entice and befriend the lonely ranch workers. The men are fascinated by her but see her as trouble. This may be because of how she dresses with the ‘full rouged lips’ and ‘red ostrich feathers on her shoes’, these two things are both red, red is a sign of danger, it makes them know to look away, not to stare because she can get them ‘canned’ or Curley may ‘get handy’ and hit them. Whenever they are tempted this is a warning sign to them as what life would be like if they made one small mistake. However Slim does not see this, he calls Curley’s wife by the name ‘good lookin.’ This is an implication that Curley does not scare him and that he is respected by the men on the ranch.

Curley’s wife knows her beauty is her power, and she uses it to flirt with the men on the ranch and make her husband jealous. She is totally alone on the ranch and her husband, Curley, has seen to it that no one can talk to her without fearing a beating...