Of Mice and Men

Curley is one of ‘Of Mice and Men’s’ major characters. Although he does not appear to hold a central role, he is very important in other respects. The first of these is the way in which he treats George and Lennie, and the ranch workers in general on the ranch. Curley is the boss’ son. Therefore he acts like he is the boss himself. He orders the others around, and, although it is true that he does hold some power on the ranch, he does not hold any respect from the workers.

He is nasty towards them, treating as though they are them below him, and often trying to pick fights. Curley is disliked by pretty much everyone on the ranch, and with good reason. George immediately dislikes his hostility, and shows the same attitude in return. He himself says “I hate that kind of a guy” as soon as he has and warns Lennie to “have nothing to do with him”. Even Curley’s own wife dislikes him, sarcastically saying “swell guy, ain’t he” when told to talk to him by Candy. Furthermore, Candy, although not directly airing his dislike mentions the he is “handy.

God damn handy. ” The way in which Candy says this hints towards his dislike for Candy being on account of his aggressive nature and hostility, rather than simply being due to his nastiness. His desire to fight with people all the time shows two things. Firstly, it shows inferiority complex: Curley is short, and therefore is constantly trying to be better than “big guys”. Secondly, it shows his aggression. Curley holds a fighting stance when he first encounters George and Lennie: “his arms gradually bent at the elbows and his hands closed into fists.

He stiffened and went into a slight crouch. ” According to Candy, Curley is an amateur boxer and is always picking fights, especially with guys who are bigger than he is. Ultimately, Curley is trying to prove his masculinity. Another way in which Curley can be seen as trying to prove himself is by marrying a physically attractive woman. His wife is never given a name, but by calling her “Curley’s wife,” Steinbeck indicates she is his possession. Curley refuses to let her talk to anyone on the ranch, isolating her from everyone and setting the stage for trouble.

This trouble happens in Section 3, where he accuses Slim of being with his wife and is completely wrong. He is ganged up on by the ranch workers, and picks on Lennie in order to vent his anger at being picked on. This turns out to be a mistake. Lennie quickly crushes his hand, and Curley has to be taken to the hospital. Luckily for George and Lennie, Slim comes to there aid, telling Curley “your hand got caught in a machine”. He makes a big show of keeping his hand soft to caress her, yet also visits the local whorehouse on Saturday night.

While he may strut around the ranch because of his position as the boss’ son, he obviously cannot satisfy his wife and is mean, or perhaps simply detached from her. Curley beats up any man who dares to talk to her, but ironically, he rarely talks to her himself, and they spend the majority of the book looking for each other. When Curley’s wife dies, Curley, rather than showing the reaction that would be expected of a man whose wife has just been killed. He does not appear to grieve at all in any way, barely looking at the body, or regarding the her death into his immediate future plans.

Instead, his first thought is towards seeking revenge and hunting down Lennie. It is perhaps this moment in the novel which epitomises the way in which Curley is aggressive, nasty, and shows no concern for anyone else apart from himself. All of this seems to be negative however. Surely Steinbeck didn’t present Curley in a poor light? Well, there may some positive aspects to Curley, or perhaps those which are not entirely bad. Firstly, he does appear to show some care for his wife. He is constantly looking for her, and appears to try and protect her.

Although she is more of a possession to him than a person, he is clearly proud of her, but perhaps for the wrong reasons. Also, Curley is a good worker. He is one of the best on the ranch, having grown up there, and this shows in his care for his work. Unlike most of the other characters, Curley doesn’t develop much over the course of the book, but he stands out as a character with whom Steinbeck does not sympathise. Whilst everyone else is struggling, Curley’s busy picking fights and trying to throw his weight around on his dad’s ranch. He seems to be outside of the economic struggle and even the personal struggle of the Depression.

Curley’s the kind of person that is needed in contrast to the mild peacefulness of the other characters. Also, someone is needed to be the source of trouble among the men of the ranch who mostly want to get along. In conclusion, if Steinbeck wrote ‘Of Mice and Men’ as being a microcosm of American society, then Curley represents one clear type of person. This is all the men in the country at the time who are petty and embittered, who wish to appear better than all of the others. He acts as a sort of control variable, whose actions and reactions can almost always be predicted, because he is such a simple shallow person.

After having read the description of the novel, my expectations were that this would have been a typical story of a good ending, no matter how thrilling the suspension dots In the end may make the plot seem to be. However, upon reading It, It was becoming clearer that Steinbeck use of certain details and foreshadowing In the text was already suggesting the outcome resulting otherwise. For example at the very beginning the name of the town Leonie and George were going through, Scolded, already makes the reader think that the place is connected with solitary, loneliness.

These guys have a dream together, that Leonie likes to be repeated to him by George. They want to earn enough money to buy a farm, and “live off the fat the Ian with Leonie tending the rabbits. A common during their days, American Dream. It did seem that they could have achieved it, until the first foreshadowing came into place. When when was mentioned Lien’s enjoyment of touching nice-looking, soft objects/ material. That got him In trouble at a previous farm where George and Leonie were working on, when he Just wanted to feel a girl’s dress, and he was too simple-minded o let go of It, when the girl began to protest.

The novel started with George and Leonie running away from the previous farm to work In another one, In order to escape persecution and to start earning for their American dream. New individual characters then came into play – Candy, Crooks, Curler, and Curler’s wife but it would be more appropriate to describe the main characters Leonie and George first. Leonie is a strong, tall, but a mentally handicapped man, who trusts and admires George completely. He was perhaps a rather simple character, but one that arises sympathy cause of his defensiveness against Curlers aggression, and taunts from Curlers wife.

George can be described as exact opposite of Leonie, being short-tempered, quick-witted but nevertheless caring for Leonie. Even though he showed frustration numerous times because he couldn’t fully enjoy life as he had to look after Leonie, he was devoted In protecting Leonie from trouble until the very end. Candy was an ageing worker that lost halls hand In an accident on that farm, and was expecting from day-to-day to be fired because of his disability. Just like his dog was shot by Carlson, after the dog was too old to be useful in his opinion.

He also wanted to contribute in George and Leonie getting a farm, and seemed to believe that it was going to be possible even after Leonie unintentionally killed Curlers wife. Crooks was a black man with a crooked back, smart, but always left out of from the workers’ company, and therefore, extremely lonely. He admitted that when Leonie came into his room and started talking to him. He was one of the vulnerable type of characters, but like Curlers wife, turns that vulnerability into a weapon and attacks characters who are even lower than himself, like Leonie.

He suggested to Leonie that George wouldn’t come back and the dreadful possibilities and asked what would Leonie do then. Nevertheless It seemed that the discrimination Is what made him a little cruel and lonely In that sense. Curler represented an evil character In the novel, being arrogant and always trying to pick fights, especially with guys bigger than him. He was fight with Leonie for no particular reason, Leonie smashes every bone in his hand in self-defense. Curlers wife was described by other characters as a Sailboat or a tart.

She was unhappily married and out of boredom and loneliness walked around the inch and flirted with the other workers. Her death from Lien’s hands caused an end to George and Lien’s American dream. Carlson was the type of character, who, after working for years in the farm and caring only about himself became selfish to the point where he couldn’t understand what friendship simply meant. He shot Candy’s old dog because he saw that it only as useless, and ћstinking”, even though that was the only friend Candy had. There were many themes presented in the novel, some of which strongly describe the grim aspects of human nature.

Nearly all the harasser Of Mice and Men including George, Leonie, Candy, Crooks, and Curlers wife, admit, at one time or another, to have a sense of loneliness and isolation. That is what sort of connects them all. Each of them desires the comfort of a friend, but will settle for the attentive ear of a stranger. Curlers wife admits to Candy, Crooks, and Leonie that she is unhappily married, and Crooks tells Leonie that life is no good without a companion to turn to in times of confusion and need. The characters are depressed by their isolation, and yet, even at their weakest, they seek to intimidate those who are even weaker than they.

Another theme is the impossibility of the “American Dream”. Many characters – George, Leonie, Candy, Crooks and even Curlers wife had dreams that became unrealistic in the novel. George and Lien’s dream of owning a farm, which would enable them to sustain themselves, and, most important, offer them protection from the cruel world, represents a typical American ideal. Curlers wife’s death, which awakens George to the impossibility of this dream, and sadly proves that the bitter Crooks is right, such paradises of freedom, contentment, and safety are something not to be found in this world.